Funk my Soul

Mr.Moo is back with an Excellent Atlantic soul LP from Don Covay!

Don was one of the label’s biggest soul talents in the mid 60s and he not only cut some great work on his own, but also penned some tunes that have become some of the most enduring soul numbers of his generation, like the cuts “Mercy, Mercy”, “Sookie, Sookie”, and “See Saw” - all of which are on this LP!

After the first handful of listens, See-Saw gives the impression of being a top-loaded LP with the fun songs like “Everything Gonna Be Everything,” “See-Saw,” “The Boomerang,” and “Fat Man” being the early favourites.  Given a wee bit of time, See-Saw reveals itself as the total package.  The aforementioned fun songs (include the album’s closer, “Sookie Skookie,” in that list) teaming up with the slowburners like “Precious You” and “Iron Out The Rough Spots,” and the midtempo chillouts like “The Usual Place” makes for a flat-out cool groove.  There’s a reason Mik Jagger took it upon himself to emulate Don Covay’s up-front delivery, and the weird-falscetto backing vocals pre-date Tom Waits’ stab at it by about 20 years.

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

Tracks
A1 See-Saw 3:00
A2 The Boomerang 2:03
A3 Everything’s Gonna Be Everything 2:33
A4 Fat Man 2:35
A5 Precious You 2:43
A6 Iron Out the Rough Spots 2:56
B1 Please Do Something 2:51
B2 I Never Get Enough of Your Love 2:46
B3 The Usual Place 2:08
B4 A Woman’s Love 2:37
B5 Sookie Sookie 2:45
B6 Mercy, Mercy 2:26

Review by Soulmakossa

Don Covay… the man who was being funky when funk still was a bad word. The pleasantly crazy Wildman of Soul, the inventor of dozens of the genre’s classics and an ecclectic, spellbinding guitarist who recorded some of the rawest, least polished slabs of down and dirty Soul. No matching suits here, nor synchronized dance steps.

The Don’s second Atlantic LP, ‘See Saw‘, is a masterpiece pure and simple. While not a huge hit upon its release, the LP has rightfully been reappraised since.

Wacky as ever, Covay struts through “See-Saw” providing his own - hilarious, full-throttled, turky-like - backing vocals. Aretha Franklin’s cover, recorded two years later, may have been the big hit, but it’s Covay’s original version that you’ll want to check out first.

The title-track is followed by the sped-up, fastpaced dance hall favorite “The Boomerang“, another perky ‘n’ quirky Covay original that starts out with the ‘is it a bird, is it a plane?’ catchline and is gradually immersed in thick layers of Chi-sounding brassy goodness (also, two verses of Martha & the Vandellas huge “Dancing in the Street” are snuck in, heh!)…

Maintaining a mid-tempo, loping beat on the funky and fierce “Everything’s Gonna Be Everything” (that tambourine is hittin’ something nasty), Covay launches into another high-energy soul romp with “Fat Man“, namechecking one of his heroes, Fats Domino, in mid-song.

Donning the balladeer’s hat, Covay gets sweet ‘n’ sensitive Percy Sledge-style on the slow-grinding “Precious You”, featuring his snappy guitar pluckings, only to put the mood into a decidedly bossa-nova by way of Stax Studios groove with the smouldering “Iron Out the Rough Spots”.

Hard sockin’ tambourines, punishing horns and a relentless backbeat provide another funky background for the Don on “Please Do Something“, after which he dips into one of his most beautiful ballads, “I Never Get Enough of Your Love“, co-written with Steve Cropper, whose inimitable guitar style is all over the tune.

Country-esque guitar noodling accompany Covay next on the all-out belter “The Usual Place”, while “A Woman’s Love” probably is the most sophisticated ballad here.

The Don goes out on a rawkus, however… Aside the “Mercy, Mercy” classic, his first hit that was added here for good measure, it’s the fiery, stompin’ gutbucket proto-funk of “Sookie Sookie” that musta raised quite a few eyebrows back in ‘66. I mean seriously, that tune is just outta there…

Don Covay Came, See-Saw and Conquered with this peerless collection of rougher-than-rough, earthy and sweaty Southern Soul.

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Biography and discography on Wikipedia and Allmusic.

Buy the reissue LP from Ebay or Dusty Groove and the CD from Cduniverse.

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Bonus Album

You asked for more Don Covay and Mr. Moo kindly offer us another classic.

The killer first album from Don Covay, working here with his classic Goodtimers combo in a nicely gritty groove! The record really stands out from other Atlantic soul of the time, as Covay keeps things tight, and fresh, providing most of the tunes himself, and working in a style that has echoes of southern soul, but which comes off with a bit more of an east coast sort of groove!
Lots of tracks are upbeat, party soul type numbers - and the backings by the Goodtimers are totally great - just the sort of rollicking backdrops you’d expect to hear Don singing with on any of his well-travelled live dates of the time. Titles include the hit “Mercy Mercy” — plus “Daddy Loves Baby”, “Take This Hurt Off Me”, “I’ll Be Satisfied”, “Can’t Stay Away”, and “Come On In”.

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Mr.Moo continues to offer us great albums like the classic balladry of the Dynamics, a must in any soul/sweet soul music collection of depth.

A bit sweet soul, a bit funky and a real indie soul classic from the early 70s! The album’s the second from The Dynamics, a group from Detroit, but one who work here with a style that’s much more in the east coast mode of the All Platinum/Stang generation! The production is nice and mellow on the best cuts - fragile, but never sloppy - and the vocals really dominate nicely on the ballads, sliding forward with a really mellow late nite sound! The album does have one stand out funk track, titled “Funkey Key”, but most of the set is relatively mellow and other tracks include “Count Your Chips”, “What A Shame”, and “You’ll Never Find A Man Like Me”.

This is a @320 vinyl rip (supplied by Mr.Moo) of the original Black Gold LP including covers

Tracks
A1 What A Shame 3:15
A2 She’s For Real (Bless You) 2:30
A3 Let Me Be Your Friend 4:00
A4 You’ll Never Find A Man Like Me 3:10
A5 Woe Is Me 3:00
B1 Voyage Thru The Mind 3:02
B2 You’re The Only One 3:25
B3 Funky Key 3:20
B4 Count Your Chips 3:45
B5 Shucks I Love You 3:00

Bio

Isaac “Zeke” Harris, George White, Fred Baker, and Samuel Stevenson were the Dynamics. (Zerben R. Hicks also sang with them but left shortly after their first album release.) All Detroit natives, the group was managed by Ted White, who was married to the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin.Their first Cotillion release, the metaphoric “Ice Cream Song,” did quite well on R&B charts. Following the lead of Atlantic recording Aretha in the South, White took the Dynamics to Memphis to record, which is why “Ice Cream Song” sounds like something the Mad Lads would have recorded at Stax. The Dynamics, however, were more versatile than the Mad Lads, and the material was better too. They had three lead voices, one being an outstanding falsetto. Chips Morman and Tommy Cogbill produced their early sides; the rhythm section consisted of Memphis stalwarts Reggie Young (guitar), Bobby Emmons (organ), Bobby Wood (piano), Mick Leach (bass), and Gene Chrisman (drums). They recorded two albums: “First Landing” on Cotillion and “What a Shame” on Black Gold.

Review

Managed by Ted White, Aretha Franklin’s husband (at the time), the Dynamics released a slew of singles and two albums but never achieved any sustained chart action; they’re visually unknown to most, even to those who know their recordings. “What a Shame“, the title track, is arguably their best single, a sweet falsetto sings the woeful tale in a mournful voice usually associated with wakes and funerals. Like everything else on the album, it was written and produced by the now-deceased Ronnie Shannon, an eccentric songwriter from Detroit who gained fame writing hits like “Baby, I Love You” for Aretha. “Woe Is Me” paves the same mournful path, as does “You’ll Never Find a Man Like Me“. Shannon speeds it up on “Shucks I Love You“, a happy-in-love tune carried by an airy falsetto lead. Brass is prominent on “Funky Key“, a groove daddy that probably worked better live; the lead is rough, countering the melodic and smooth backing vocals. The Dynamics had at least three lead singers and used them all. “Count Your Chips” is a slow beauty, typical of sounds emanating from Philly, yet it failed to sell despite a sugary lead vocal. Other notables include “Voyage Thru the Mind” and “Let Me Be Your Friend“.

(Bio and Review by Andrew Hamilton, All Music Guide)

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Buy the vinyl from ebay or Groove Collector and a digital copy from Amazon.

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Do not miss their debut album “First Landing” in our back pages here.

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A Tribute to Ron Banks and The Dramatics by Trakbuv

We at FMS are sorry to report the sad loss of Ron Banks on 4th March. He was one of the founding members of the incredible Dramatics formed back in 1962 in Detroit while still at Cleveland Jr High, and was recognised as the group leader. The original line-up was Ron (falsetto/tenor), Larry Demps (baritone), Larry Reed (lead vocal), Elbert Wilkins, and Robert Ellington (replaced by Ron Davis in 1964). Their first single in ‘66 was apparently misprinted as The Dynamics on the first 500 copies, with the vibrant, catchy ‘Bingo’ as the A-side. The B-side was a Temptations-esque ‘Somewhere’, complete with a clear falsetto lead. Could this be Ron Banks first lead vocal outing ? It is well known that he had a more than healthy respect for Eddie Kendricks in tuning his vocal style. The same lead turned up on the Northern Soul favourite ‘Inky Dinky Wang Dang Doo’, also released on Wingate in 1967.

This is a @320 vinyl rip(supplied by Nikos) of the original Stax/Volt LP including covers

Tracks
A1 The Devil Is Dope 5:24
A2 You Could Become the Very Heart of Me 2:47
A3 Now You Got Me Loving You 4:23
A4 Fell for You 3:22
B1 Jim, What’s Wrong With Him 4:49
B2 Hey You! Get Off My Mountain 3:38
B3 Beautiful People 3:50
B4 Beware of the Man (With the Candy in His Hand) 2:57

Their first chart success was for Sport Records in 1967, with the beautiful ballad ‘If you haven’t got love’ hitting #43 - the polish was really beginning to shine. In 1968, Larry Reed and Ron Davis were replaced by William ‘WeeGee’ Howard (lead) and Willie Ford, respectively. Soon thereafter, they hooked up with Stax Records and had a series of hits on the Volt outlet. History was in the making, although their first release (‘Your love is strange’) failed to set the world alight in 1969 (the flipside ‘Since I fell in love’ showcased the quality of the multi-leads). And although they had to wait until 1971 for their second release, the planetary alignment across our solar system was about to be disturbed forever. ‘Whatcha see is whatcha get’ really is the PERFECT record performed by the PERFECT group. Scoring number 3 and 9 on the Billboard R&B and Pop Charts, respectively, before attaining Gold status - there could have been no better fanfare to introduce The Dramatics to the forefront of Soul Harmony Groups - forever. Elbert giving the baritone intro, Ron the falsetto, then Larry, followed by Willie, before Wee Gee hits the floor running. For me, one of the greatest triumphs for male harmonising ever. And it can’t be stressed enough at how Ron’s perfect frills really MAKE this record that so special.

Ron Banks became more involved in both writing and producing as part of The Dramatics, before extending those talents to his brother’s outfit, the vastly overlooked Five Special. He later produced a very fine and successful solo album entitled ‘Truly Bad’ in 1983, and also assisted Brittany Blake in 1993 on a delightful duet entitled ‘Forever’.  He even recorded a song by the renowned boxer Thomas “Hitman” Hearns in the early ’80s - Ron was a very talented sportsman himself, winning scholarships in both baseball and American football on graduating from Northern High School. His charm, humble persona and active charity work have been widely acknowledged, as well as being the lighthouse rock that held the Dramatics together in many formats over the years. Fellow Dramatic and close friend LJ Reynolds was duly stunned and deeply upset by the news of Ron’s passing. Of concert dates due to start around the same time, he commented “The show must go on. If it was me I’d want them to go ahead and I’m sure he’d feel the same way. It’ll be a long, silent ride there. But we’ll take Ron’s mike and put it up onstage, and let it stand there”. Ron Banks is survived by his wife, Sandy Banks, four daughters and two sons (1951-2010).

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To the albums, and their sophomore set, “A Dramatic Experience” is a beautiful time capsule of a band in transition. Half the songs feature William ‘WeeGee’ Howard and Elbert Wilkins, the other half their replacements, LJ Reynolds (from Chocolate Syrup) and Lenny Mayes. So essentially we have a septet of artists all vying for centre stage !! For me, Ron Banks really stands out on this platter as the pivotal peg for this revolving door. His best performance and one of the Dramatics finest, ‘Now you got me loving me’ is one of the standout cuts. The other is the incredible duet between Ron and Wee Gee on the gorgeously defiant ‘Hey you ! Get off my mountain’, attaining #5 and #43 on the R&B and Pop Charts, respectively. Fantastic LP.

This is a @320 vinyl rip (supplied by Nikos) of the original Stax/Volt LP including covers

Tracks

A1 And I Panicked 3:53
A2 I Dedicate My Life to You 3:30
A3 You’re Got Me Going Through a Thing 4:19
A4 I Pray She’ll Never Go Away 4:37
B1 I Made Myself Lonely 3:49
B2 Highway to Heaven 3:54
B3 Beautiful Feeling 3:57
B4 Toast to the Fool 5:32
B5 It’s So Hard Trying to Get Over You 3:56

On departing, Wee Gee and Elbert actually formed their own ‘The Dramatics’ releasing ‘No rebate on love’ on Mainstream in 1975, a slightly pop-flavoured item that definitely tried hard to be a dead ringer for the original Dramatics. Their follow-up, ‘Sho nuff good feelin” (now as ‘The Dramatic Experience’) was even more forgettable (although its flip ‘Someday, somewhere’ is very pretty). As a consequence, Ron officially took the helm to distinguish the two outfits, re-branding as “Ron Banks and The Dramatics” for the next two albums.

Personally, I think the addition of LJ and Lenny sealed their fate as my favourite all-time male harmony outfit. LJ had a more expressive voice than Wee Gee and Lenny provided a critical link between Ron and LJ that was often seamless. And I feel that their harmonies gained a unique warmth. Their third release was business as usual, “Dramatically Yours” sustaining that deft mix of beautifully arranged mid- and uptempo grabbers with gentle crushers. Here, LJ stamps his authority all over the plaintive ‘And I panicked’ - utterly devastating.  ‘Toast to the fool’ is another important track that reached #18/67 R&B/Pop Charts - and another testament to the incredible harmonising and interactive vocalising of the Dramatics. Maybe not quite the household name as some of their peers, but the endurance and collective talent of Ron Banks and The Dramatics is, to me, equal to any band and second to none.  We salute you.

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Listen up to their amazing debut album “Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get” including “In The Rain” in our back pages here and finally buy almost every one of their albums on CD from Amazon. ..….and please leave a comment. We always need your views on the albums and posts.

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There aren’t many heavier, more sought after albums for the deep disco head than this 1978 classic from the reservoirs of Patrick Adams and “Red&” Greg Carmichael. The big cut on here is undoubtedly “It Ain’t No Big Thing,” which has been floating around on bootleg for a few years, and was the subject of a nice Danny Krivit edit (only on Japanese import, sorry!). Beyond those credentials, “No Big Thing” is a superb soulful dance tune with grown folk lyrics delivered by a sweet but world-wise female vocal, a subgenre of disco that New York City seemed to excel at in the late ’70s (see Cory Daye, Norma Jean, Sylvia Striplin, etc). I first heard this bittersweet masterpiece years ago in a set from DJ Clark Kent, a subtle tip of the kangol to the days when hip hop and disco were two sides of the same coin. Dig the rhythm guitar, one note never sounded so funky! The title track is the original version of a cut that was to become one of Larry Levan’s key remixes and a Paradise Garage classic when Jocelyn Brown and Inner Circle recut it. Another Patrick Adams anthem is included here, “I’m a Love Bug,” a track that was also redone on a couple releases by Bumblebee Unlimited (dig deep people!). The remaining tunes, “Mr. Blindman” and “Do As I Do” (with an orgasmic breakdown that would put Donna Summer to shame) are in a similar mold, but when the form is this elegant who needs variation?

This is a @320 vinyl rip of the original LP including covers and bonus tracks from the CD.

Tracks
A1 Do As I Do 10:04
A2 Make It Last Forever 8:14
A3 I’m A Love Bug 4:15
B1 Mr. Blindman 5:05
B2 It Ain’t No Big Thing 6:30

Another deep disco banger from the vaults of the P & P catalogue (recently re-edited by Kenny Dope of MAW fame). This record was released to little acclaim in 1978, and apart from it being a Paradise Garage hit, it pretty much sank without a trace. But over the years it has become a bit of a holy grail amongst soul and disco collectors - I saw a copy sell for $400 on eBay just last winter - and with good reason. If you liked the smoked-out, trippy elegance of the disco masterpiece Atmosphere Strut by Cloud One, then think of Make It Last Forever as its sleazier, funkier counterpart. The songs were long hustle-style workouts, complete with Patrick Adams’ trademark Moog and smoky string arrangements, but there’s a slower and dirty edge to this stuff - think Barry White production but with none of the romantic elegance. Throw in Mcghee’s husky vocal stylings, complete with long orgasmic interludes that make Donna Summer sound like Kathie Lee-Gifford, and you’ve got a potential orgy on the dancefloor. It also includes “It Ain’t No Big Thing” by Mcghee’s first band Personal Touch, which was a big early hip hop disco break record, and original versions of “Mr. Blindman” and “I’m a Love Bug”, which were later reworked by Patrick Adams and Make It Last’s producer Greg Carmichael under the Moniker Bumble Bee Orchestra (which, come to think of it, is due for reissue as well). But I digress…this is an excellent record that deserves to be heard by anyone who loved the Cloud One LP, and any of the aforementioned artists. Excellent stuff y’all!

I recently went crate diggin for the first time in NYC and while I was there this album was playing in the background. Needless to say, I was blown away by the vocal and chord arrangements I was listening to. This album has a feel to it that will take you straight back to the 70s. The title cut “Make It Last Forever” is a classic right from the gate. Donna McGhee’s voice is absolutely gorgeous over these disco-driven tracks. If you break yourself away from the music and listen to what she is saying, there is definitely a love/sexual message there. You can tell she is coming from the heart. Props to Greg Carmichael and Patrick Adams for putting together a fantastic album. This is a classic worth having and it has me looking for other Donna McGhee projects. The girl can go! One of my friends asked to borrow it and I replied: “No my brother. You gotta buy ya own!!!” For real though, you have to get this.

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Buy the CD from Amazon (35$ to 55$) or ebay (69$ - 89$). If you ever find a vinyl do not loose the chance cause it is extremely rare (see here). The only available copy costs 330$ in Groove Collector .

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Nicolas Drosos who runs “Mellow Soul & Sensual Grooves” blog, kindly offer us “You should have told me” which was not included in the album. It was only released as a 12inch in 1979.

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Joining forces in Washington, DC, in 1963, Tony Washington, George Spann, George Wesley Peterbank Jnr., Michael McCalpin and Maurice Washington had to wait a decade to win a recording contract. Motown Records president Ewart Abner saw them performing at a talent show in Atlanta, Georgia, and signed them to the label in 1974. They were teamed with the Ashford And Simpson writing and production team, and their debut album was a collection of romantic soul ballads that produced two hits, “Shoe Shoe Shine” and “Leave It Alone’. Their second album, Pure Pleasure, added a disco feel to the Superiors” sound, and spawned two further chart entries. In 1977, the group enjoyed some success with a disco rearrangement of the Martha And The Vandellas’ hit, “Nowhere To Run”, but they subsequently left Motown, and attempts to secure a major label recording contract elsewhere proved unsuccessful.

The Dynamic Superiors - 1975 - The Dynamic Superiors

Michael McCalpin, George Wesley Peterbark Jr., George Spann and brothers Maurice and Toni Washington grew up in the same Washington, D.C. housing project.  The five went to school together, singing on street corners and playing in various talent contests along the way.  By the time they were in high school they’d formed The Superiors and were lying about their ages in order to play D.C. niteclubs.

Signed by the Sue label, they made their recording debut with an instantly obscure 1969 single:
- ‘Heavenly Angel’ b/w ‘I’d rather Die’ (Sue catalog number 12)

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

Tracks
A1 Shoe Shoe Shine 3:45
A2 Soon 3:44
A3 Leave It Alone 3:40
A4 Don’t Send Nobody Else 3:39
A5 Romeo 3:45
B1 Star Of My Life 3:44
B2 Cry When You Want To 4:17
B3 I Got Away 2:18
B4 One-Nighter 4:00
B5 Release Me 3:28

Two years later they got their big break when they were discovered Motown executive Ewart Abner at a 1972 dj convention in Atlanta and signed to the label.  It apparently took Motown management awhile to figure out how to deal with the group, eventually teaming them with the writing and production team of Nikolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson.  To Motown’s credit the label made no attempt to hide lead singer Tony Washington’s openly gay lifestyle - a fact underscored by one quick look at “The Dynamic Superiors” cover art.  Not that it mattered …  Washington may have worn false eye lashes, rouge, lipstick, and occasionally performed in drag, but he had a killer voice.  On tracks like ‘Shoe Shine Shine’ and ‘Star of My Life’ he was more than capable of hitting high notes a-la Russell Tompkins Jr..  At the other end of the spectrum Washington’s falsetto was nicely offset by tenors Peterbark Jr and Spann. With Ashford and Simpson bringing their top-shelf material to the recording sessions (they were responsible for nine of the ten songs), this was simply one of the best old school vocal group LPs I’ve ever heard.   With the exception of the overly sensitive ‘Cry When You Want To’ virtually every one of these songs would have made a dandy single and was worth hearing.  With so many standout tracks highlights were hard to pick up, but included ‘Leave It Alone’, the blazing ‘Don’t Send Nobody Else’ and ‘I Got Awat’.  Elsewhere Motown tapped the album for a pair of singles:

- 1974’s ‘Shoe Shine Shine’ b/w ‘Release Me’ (Motown catalog number M 1324F) # 6 pop; # 16 R&B
- 1975’s ‘Leave It Alone’ b/w ‘One-Nighter’ (Motown catalog number M 1342F) # 102 pop; # 13 R&B

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The Dynamic Superiors - 1975 - Pure Pleasure

A sweet set of vocal group tunes from the Dynamic Superiors — arranged with a bit more of a high stepping groove than some of the other Motown work of the time. Backings are handled by a range of talents that includes Paul Riser, William Eaton, Al Gorgoni, and Horace Ott — but the real charm is the way the group’s innocent harmony style puts over the lyrics, all of which are very strong tunes written by the team of Ashford & Simpson.

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

Tracks
A1 Deception 4:49
A2 Pleasure 3:19
A3 Nobody’s Gonna Change Me 5:30
A4 Feeling Mellow 4:13
B1 Face the Music 3:08
B2 Hit And Run Lovers 4:06
B3 A Better Way 3:38
B4 Don’t Give Up On Me Baby 3:03
B5 Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing 4.13

1975’s “Pure Pleasure” found The Dynamic Superiors continuing their collaboration with producers/writers Nicholas Ashford and Valerie Simpson.  Like the debut, Ashford and Simpson wrote nine of the ten songs which meant the group was 100% dependent on the quality of the material being brought to them.  In most cases that spells bad news for non-writing acts and the first couple of times I listened to this set I felt it was very good, but a shade below the debut.  Pulling it out for the first time in a couple of years I’ll tell you I was just plain wrong and their sophomore album was every bit as good as the debut.  Side one was near perfect.  Four great songs with great arrangements, courtesy of Horace Ott, Al Gorgonia and William Eaton, and a series of great performances.

Motown also tapped the album for a pair of singles: -

1975’s ‘Nobody’s Gonna Change Me’ b/w ‘I Got Away’ (Motown catalog number M 1359F)

- 1975’s ‘Deception’ b/w ‘One-Nighter’ (Motown catalog number M 1365F

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The Dynamic Superiors - 1977 - Give and Take

Though it lacked the hit singles of their early work, the disco-oriented Give and Take was the best work the Dynamic Superiors ever did for Motown. 1977’s Give & Take, produced by Brian Holland for Holland-Dozier-Holland Productions, included spirited material along with covers of “Nowhere To Run” and Stevie wonder’s “All In Love Is Fair.”

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

Tracks
A1 Happy Song 6:07
A2 Give It All Up 3:51
A3 Nowhere To Run 9:07
B1 You’re What I Need 4:47
B2 All In Love Is Fair 4:31
B3 All You Can Do With Love 3:33
B4 Here Comes That Feeling Again 4:22
B5 Once Is Just Not Enough 5:03

I decided to search more of The Dynamic Superiors when i heard the beautiful cover of “All In Love Is Fair”, last Sunday morning, on my ipod.  I had those 3 albums in my collection for years and I immediately started ripping them. I think every Soul/Funk lover should have them. They’ve never been released on CD.

So enjoy and tell us your opinion about the group and the albums.

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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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Mr.Moo keeps on amazing us. Here is another great album, he generously offering to the visitors of FunkMySoul.

The Detroit Emeralds are rightly regarded as a classic soul/funk combo and here’s one of the reasons why,  their 1973 album I’m In Love With You.  “You’re Getting A Little Too Smart” has been sampled many many times thanks to the opening beats but it’s a great song in it’s own right. It’s got an insanely funky bass riff and strings that could keep your head nodding for ever. I love the way the track breaks down for a moments reflection before kicking back in, it’s a fine example of a track that sounds like it requires no effort at all but is perfectly honed. Great organs as well. Absolutely brilliant and seriously under appreciated.

This is a 320@ vinyl rip (supplied by Mr.Moo) of the original Westbound LP, including covers

Tracks
A1   Shake Your Head (3:01)
A2   So Long (6:03)
A3   You’re Getting A Little Too Smart (3:39)
A4  I Think Of You (4:25)
A5   You Control Me (3:28)
B1  Whatcha Gonna Wear Tomorrow (4:14)
B2   Heaven Couldn’t Be Like That (2:22)
B3   Without You Baby (1:34)
B4   I’m In Love With You (6:39)
B5   My Dreams Have Got The Best Of Me (2:48)

Tracks A4 & A5 and B2, B3 & B4 are combined because they are (flow over) medleys.

Dusty Groove Review

Maybe our favorite album by this Detroit soul group on Westbound. Why? Well maybe it’s because of the great lime-green suits they’re wearing on the cover, but probably because they’ve really got their act together on this one, and lay down a tight set of soul cuts, that have all the great harmonies of yesteryear, mixed with a sweet funky sound that’s right on the Westbound tip! The album features the great break beat track “You’re Getting a Little too Smart”, which begins with some excellent drums - and it also includes the cuts “Shake Your Head”, “You Control Me”, “Without You Baby”, and “Heaven Couldn’t Be Like This”.

Biography from Wikipedia

“The Emeralds” formed as a vocal harmony group in Little Rock, Arkansas, and originally composed of four brothers, Ivory (born 14 September 1941), Abrim (born Abe Tilmon, 12 January 1945 - 6 July 1982), Cleophus and Raymond Tilmon. After Cleophus and Raymond left, the remaining Tilmon brothers were joined by childhood friend James Mitchell. Moving to Detroit, Michigan and expanding their name to the Detroit Emeralds, the then trio had their first R&B chart success on Ric-Tic Records, with “Show Time” in 1968.

In 1970, they joined the Westbound record label. When touring in Memphis, Tennessee, they recorded some demo tracks at the Hi recording studios, run by producer Willie Mitchell, to which they then added vocals and strings back in Detroit. This approach worked and brought them another hit, “If I Lose Your Love”, which was followed by a run of successes, including “Do Me Right”, “You Want It, You Got It” and “Baby Let Me Take You (In My Arms)” which all made the R&B Top 10 while the latter also reached #24 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart in 1972.

The song for which they are now best remembered, “Feel The Need In Me“, reached #22 R&B in 1973 and a new, much longer version four years later also charted. The original track made the top five in the UK Singles Chart in 1973 and the later production also made the UK chart in 1977 (#12). “You Want It” was re-released in the UK as a follow-up to the initial “Feel The Need In Me”, also reaching the UK Top 20 in 1973. Abe Tilmon wrote all of their hits, while also arranging and producing the tracks.

By 1974, the group was falling apart, and at one point there were two outfits using the name. Abe Tilmon formed one new group with the Detroit Emeralds’ name, while James Mitchell along with Marvin Willis wrote for another group, The Floaters - Charles of the Floaters being James’s brother. “Float On” became one of the fastest-selling singles in the English-speaking world at the time. James Mitchell, Ivory Tilmon and Marvin Willis continued touring with the Detroit Emeralds and their band (Dave Dean on keyboards, Simon Gardner on guitar, Andy Avent on bass and Martin Kautz on drums). They stayed active on the oldies and cabaret circuit for some years.

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Buy the CD (along with “Feel The Need” album) on Amazon or CD Universe. For the vinyl junkies check Music Stuck, there’s plenty of 7″ and LP’s.

Download link

Enjoy 2 more great albums of The Detroit Emeralds, in our back pages here.

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