Funk my Soul

Mr Magic Blues makes a ’70s soul classic and Mr.Moo kindly offer it to us.

One of the funkiest albums ever from Junior Parker – a great little set that shows he had a lot more to offer than just the average bluesman! The album’s got a nice little soul sound in the backings – tight rhythms from Horace Ott, who nicely avoids a lot of the cliches that the blues business was hitting at the time – in order to keep Junior in hip territory that’s filled with breaking drums and heavy basslines! There’s a few key crossover tracks here, plus some surprisingly sweeter numbers – and the album’s a gem through and through – well-appreciated by new generations over the years, thanks to its diversity of tracks!

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

Tracks
A1 Love Ain’t Nothin’ But a Business Goin’ On 3:20
A2 The Outside Man 3:12
A3 Darling Depend on Me 3:43
A4 Taxman 3:42
A5 Rivers Invitation 2:45
B1 I Wonder Where Our Love Has Gone 3:38
B2 Just to Hold My Hand 3:51
B3 You Know I Love You 3:33
B4 Lady Madonna 2:12
B5 Tomorrow Never Knows 3:25

Review by Andrew Male (Mojo Magazine)

Herman Parker Jr. was born at the heart of the blues in Clarksdale, Mississippi in 1932. He died tragically young, from a brain tumour in 1971. In between, he produced some of the most soulful blues of the ’50s and ’60s. Mentored by Sonny Boy Williamson and Howlin’ Wolf and talent-spotted by Ike Turner, Parker started out as Little Junior who, with The Blue Flames cut the riotous Feelin’ Good and the eerie Mystery Train for Sun Records. Parker’s downhome late-’50s sides for Duke brought him success but when he moved away from hard blues he lost his audience. As a result, most scholars tend to write off Parker’s later, more soulful sound. This is a shame as his final recordings contain some of the most warm-heated sunshine soul of the period. Cratediggers rate this album (alt. titled Outside Man in its Capitol incarnation) because of Sonny Lester’s clear production, and in-the-pocket groove from Jimmy McGriff’s soul-jazz combo and Parker’s three Beatles tracks – Taxman, Tomorrow Never Knows and Lady Madonna – where the singer’s good-hearted character cuts through the clichés, even going so far as to blanche at the meanness of George Harrison’s lyrics on Taxman (“Oh, this is awful!”).

Also worth tracking down is Parker’s glorious cover of Ain’t It Funny How Time Slips Away from the same period; an epic spoken-word reworking of the Willie Nelson country classic that deserves to sit alongside such other soul overhauls of white radio standards as Isaac Hayes’ By The Time I Get To Phoenix and Bobby Womack’s cover of The Carpenters’ Close To You.

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Biography from AMG

Buy the vinyl from Discogs and CD from Amazon

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A fabulous album, done when Pickett was in the midst of his best period at Atlantic. It had everything, great songs, wonderful production and arrangements, and a hungry, galvanizing Wilson Pickett hollering, screaming, shouting, and soaring on anything he covered, from ballads to uptempo dance and midtempo wailers.

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

Tracks
A1  Mustang Sally 3:04
A2  New Orleans 2:32
A3  Sunny 3:16
A4  Everybody Needs Somebody To Love 2:16
A5  Ohh Paa Pah Doo 2:37
A6  She Ain’t Gonna Do Right 2:14
B1  Knock On Wood 2:40
B2  Time Is On My Side 2:31
B3  Up Tight Good Woman 2:29
B4  You Left The Water Running 2:31
B5  Three Time Loser 2:19
B6  Nothing You Can Do 2:14

Review by J. P. Ryan

Wilson Pickett was one of the most dynamic, exuberant, and compelling soul singers of his generation. At his creative and commercial peak he recorded a dozen albums for Atlantic (including two hits compilations - and I’m not counting two various artist sets that each featured a pair of riveting Pickett live performances), released during 1964 - 72, when he left the label for a rather misguided period at RCA that, along with changing popular tastes, led his career to nosedive. But those Atlantic albums (which in the beginning included some earlier material, dating as far back as the Falcons’ 1961 “I Found A Love”) are all worthwhile, ranging from very good to classic. “The Wicked Pickett” is Pickett’s third for the label, a terrific set mostly recorded at Rick Hall’s Fame Studios in October 1966. As such it has a consistency of feel lacking in some of the artist’s more randomly compiled (but still worthwhile) sets, like the debut “In The Midnight Hour” or 1968’s “Midnight Mover.” With Hall and Tom Dowd overseeing a core band that includes Chips Moman, Roger Hawkins, Spooner Oldham, and Tommy Cogbill (the horn section includes Floyd Newman and Charles Chalmers) the emphasis is on deep Southern soul, slinky mid-tempo funk and the occasional rave-up. The hits include the immortal ‘Mustang Sally’ and a revved up ‘Everybody Needs Somebody To Love’. ‘Sunny’, the suave Bobby Hebb hit, is the wild card, but Pickett’s version works, and as always it is a pleasure to hear the artist’s distinctive, blistering take on New Orleans r & b (Jessie Hill’s ‘Ooh Poo Pah Do’ and Gary “U.S.” Bond’s slinky ‘New Orleans’) - Pickett transforms the usually relaxed, laconic character that typifies the city’s r & b and funk.

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Biography and discography on Wikipedia

Buy the vinyl from Ebay and the CD from Amazon.  A Japan CD reissue along with a lot of vinyl copies can be found on Gemm.

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Mr.Moo continues to offer wonderful music to the visitors of FMS. Let’s find out his latest contribution :

This is one of your reviewers favorite albums, ever. Pretty strong opinion, but when this was released it was effectively the only a cappella music available with the exception of local East Coast groups. Their first album was actually produced by Frank Zappa, but this second one is one of the three on Capitol Records that established The Persuasions as the premiere a cappella group in the world. The voices are rich and vibrant. The music chosen established their repertoire of rhythm and blues, soul and gospel. They became adept at creating such spirited covers of Curtis Mayfield, Sam Cooke and The Temptations that it is almost impossible for anyone to sing ‘Persuasion’s’ songs and not sound wrong somehow. (Singers.Com).

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

Tracks
A1 Chain Gang 1:55
A2 Man, Oh Man 2:15
A3 It’s You That I Need 2:25
A4 The Sun 2:42
A5 Don’t It Make You Want To Go Home 2:30
B1 Walk On The Wild Side 2:18
B2 Another Night With The Boys 2:50
B3 Gypsy Woman 3:45
B4 Don’t Know Why I Love You 2:42
B5 Let It Be 2:20

If you had to pick one “desert island” Persuasions album, this would be the one. They were never in finer form, and never chose a collection of tunes better suited for their strengths. These were the songs that they sang on the road for many years, and this was their debut album for Capitol. From Sam Cooke’s “Chain Gang” to Curtis Mayfield’s “Man Oh Man,” this is classic Persuasions material. Bass Jimmy Hayes’ turn on “The Sun” still makes my speakers rattle. It’s almost below the range of normal human hearing! The vitality, the joyousness, the virutosic singing, and yes, Jerry Lawson’s tremendous phrasing-certainly one of the signature voices of the last fifty years- make this album nothing short of sensational.

A cappella singing has been part of the African-American musical tradition since the days of slavery. Despite the recent success of the hi-tech a cappella group Take 6, the tradition has suffered a steady decline to the point where it is rare even in gospel circles. The Persuasions, though, are resolutely a cappella. Their chart successes have been minimal (two fleeting R&B entries in 1974-1975), but they carry forward the tradition without appearing ossified. Airplay will probably always elude them - and with it the really big breakthrough - but their music has been a consistently enjoyable sidebar, and never one that has simply reeked of revivalism, remaining fresh through releases like 1993’s Toubo’s Song, 1994’s Right Around the Corner, and 1996’s Sincerely. 1999’s On the Good Ship Lollipop was a foray into children’s music, while a year later the group issued Frankly a Cappella: The Persuasions Sing Zappa and Might as Well…The Persuasions Sing Grateful Dead.

More Info

Wikipedia

Singers.com

Soultracks.com

Buy the vinyl from ebay and the cd from Amazon and listen up Man, Oh Man.

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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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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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If you like smooth vocals, soul with a touch of jazz, and great musicianship then you should dig this immediately! This is one of those rare overlooked gems that you must have if you’re a fan of 70’s soul/funk/jazz. There is no weak song at all, I just love it.

There’s plenty of inspiring music here-my favorites are Pasado, Come and Go With Me & Elusive Lady  along with the killer instrumental tunes. Nice horns, nice keys great chops!

Horribly Underrated Band!

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

Tracks
A1 Come Go With Me (4:22)
A2 Pasado (5:42)
A3 One Day At A Time (5:44)
A4  Doin’ The Do (2:58)
B1 In The Pocket (3:51)
B2 Nothing Is Stronger (4:00)
B3 Elusive Lady (6:58)
B4 Wizzard Wuzzit (2:35)

Review by Trakbuv

OK.  I’m hauling my entire record collection and prize stereo abroad.  Unfortunately, the plane hits some minor difficulties – resulting in myself being the only survivor on a raft made out of my crates.  I ‘shipwreck’ on an island and am greeted by a group of blood-hungry cannibals.  They offer me 100 of their finest women and as much food as I can ever want in exchange for my entire record collection.  Alternatively, they will leave me with only my favourite 100 LPs and my life.  The choice at first seems easy, but picking my favourite 100 LPs proves more difficult !  However, the analogy does throw up one LP that I would not ordinarily have considered so important – The Pockets debut, “Come Go With Us”.

The predominantly Baltimore-based octet consisted of Al McKinney (keyboards), Jacob Sheffer (guitar), George Cray (drums), Gary Grainger (bass), Charles Williams (horns), Irving Madison (sax) and Kevin Barnes (trombone).  Having played local gigs with a repertoire of top 40 tunes, they entered Sheffield Studios, Baltimore in 1975, and exited with 200 demo cassettes containing four original songs.  Armed with their new babies, they failed to excite anyone in New York.  However, fate would smile kindly following a chance meeting between Al McKinney and Baltimore Colts baseball team member, John Mackey.  Having passed the tape on, Mr Mackey just happened to live next to one Verdine White of Earth, Wind & Fire.  A meeting was arranged, leaving Verdine White and Co. suitably impressed.  However, Verdine had an ace up his sleeve that was to become the eighth member of the group, and their lead vocalist, Larry Jacobs from San Francisco.  Recording the album took about week, but Verdine spent a while sprucing up the product to impress the powers that be at CBS.  Meanwhile, The Pockets ‘waited and waited’ while continuing to perform for their daily bread.

Well, the wait was more than worth it.  The album is a real thoroughbred of the finest sounds our music has to offer.  Plainly put, there is a scintillating mix of breezy funk, big ballads and jazz-funk, all perfectly captured in a spiralling groove.  And why not lead off with the killer cut ?  What a joy ‘Come go with me’ is – a laugh-out-loud crescendo of happiness – and a track that hasn’t dated whatsoever.  Simply glorious.  Then we have, for me, the single mistake on the LP.  While their version of ‘Pasado’ is respectful, this should never have been considered for more than one microsecond.  The Stairsteps version is GOD.  If you haven’t heard the original from one of the best soul LPs of all-time, may I suggest you skip here for some immediate therapy.  Back on track, Trak, this is a Pockets review, remember.  Co-producers Verdine White and Robert Wright now lend the writing skills that gave the title track such an edge to a lovely climactic ballad.  ‘One day at a time’ is a wonderfully developed song that is a tribute to both their writing and production talents. The first set is stupendously wrapped up with the frantic brassy instrumental ‘Doin’ the do’ – a scorcher from the pen of Mr Grainger.  Another track released as a single, ‘In the Pocket’ is more of a funky chant than a traditional funk number, but still has much excitement to recommend.   The next track(Nothing Is Stronger) is something that LTD made a speciality out of their non-single material – a melodic, skip-along shuffler that is a real treat.  Then we’re onto the second big ballad (Elusive Lady) of the LP, this time written from within the ranks of the band.  McKinney and Barnes do themselves proud with a charming song, beautifully sung with a tremendous change of pace mid-way that really shows off the eclectic elegance of the outfit – a long-time favourite with this scribe.  Finishing off with another instrumental, ‘Wizzard Wuzzit’ is a startlingly good, brisk closer, written once again by Gary Grainger.  Superb.

What makes this such a hard LP to part with ?  I guess it has an innocent effervescence of a band that has had the cork finally removed by two producers who knew exactly how to trap that youthful zest.  I love the charm, the range of sounds and the sincerity of this record – I really hope you approve.

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The back cover of the vinyl LP was used as the cover art of 1996 compilation “Golden Classics” in CD (see here). All 8 songs are included in this CD as the first 8 hits (out of 19)! Don’t miss it when you see one! You can easily buy the vinyl here. Finally, listen up “Come Go With Me”.

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Rare Modern  Soul  Holy  Grail.

I had no idea of this record since i noticed that it was sold for 620 bucks on ebay recently and as you can see here never sold less than 350.
It contains “Gonna Find A True Lover” a  brilliant 70’s modern soul dancer an extended album version with it’s saxophone break that builds to a climax during the final 60 seconds. Nice ballads and disco – flavoured  songs make it “a must “ for every soul fan.

Tracks
A1. Let Me Be Your Lover 5.28
A2. He’s A Looser 5.45
A3. How Long Must The Show Go On 5.22
A4. A Good Thing 2.34
B1. Gonna Find A True Love 5.20
B2. Funk Machine 3.15
B3. You Give Me Someone To Love 4.00
B4. Disco Dream 5.08

Review by Trakbuv

“Date: 9th December, 1946, a mother from Magee, Mississippi is in labour bearing twins - with Estus bolding venturing into the outside world just 15 minutes before his sibling Lester.  And so the Patterson Twins are born.  They cut their baby teeth on a traditional Church upbringing, eventually becoming part of the gospel group, the ‘Southern Sons’.  They then broke away to establish themselves as a duo under the imaginative title, ‘Soul Twins’.  After graduating from High School, they moved to Erie, Pennsylvania, but continued to travel back to neighbouring Jackson, Mississippi to attend a Mid-South Revue during the period of 1968-69.  That migrational behaviour eventually paid off as they were spotted by Hense Powell, who subsequently put them on his show among the likes of Dorothy Moore.

As the Soul Twins, they recorded several singles under the Big Beat banner (based in Greenville, Mississippi) during 1972, before joining Star Fox Enterprises using the revised title of ‘The Patterson Twins’.    Again, several 45s emerged from this tenure, this time on King Records, one of which is included on the LP presented here (the track ‘A good thing’). Also around this time (1973) they recorded the wonderful two-step groover ‘I need love’ on Malaco records, that wasn’t released until 1976.  They then signed up to Commercial Records based in Nashville, Tennessee, and the fruits of those sessions are presented here.

On the lead title track, a deceptive funky intro suddenly transforms into glitzy, popcorn disco, a blatant reminder of the 70s disco era at its peak.  A free-flowing guitar on the exit was a nice surprise on this one.  Next up, with warning rhymes like ‘loser’, ‘uptown cruiser’ and ‘woman user’, we have the tell-tale signs of a bitter man. ‘He’s a loser’ has a warm, striking arrangement – my pick of the ballads.  That warm soulful sauce continues onto ‘How long must the show go on’, a delightful ode to love turned sour that is delivered with tenderness by the brothers, and possesses a curious sing-a-long chorus.  Then it’s a wonderful time-escalator ride to the cusp of the 70s complete with monophonic sound, ‘A good thing’ is something Don Covay would have been proud to be involved in (and is a result of the aforementioned Star Fox sessions).  Swinging, honest-to-goodness grits that is a positive joy from the first note, it is however far too short and left me demanding an encore !  Side Two signs on with the unrelenting ‘Gonna find a true love’, a crisp pulsating melody that is rightly a club classic, and busy enough to command its 5.19 minutes running time.  Wonderful.  We are then greeted with some drag-funk in ‘Funk machine’, with snarling over-dubbed vocals and retorting horns, this is a very competent and fun escapade.  ‘You give me someone to love’ was another single lifted from the LP, a bluesy joint with a sombre violin adding fragility to the message, and I was reminded of Don Covay again on this one.  Not bad at all.  For the final cut with a title like ‘Disco dream’, I was expecting to be blinded by the bright spangle of the boogie, but no ! This is a midtempo offering that plays like an inferior version of Hot Chocolate’s ‘Emma’ (itself a brilliant record by the way).

What we have here is a record that appears to pre-date its release, and to have been complimented with some disco-flavoured tracks to make it more contemporary.  As such, there is a rich seam of soul that runs through it, intertwining effortlessly betwixt funk, balladry, or dance.”

Listen up “Gonna Find A True Love“

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