Julio 5, 2009 a 10:11 pm (Funk)
Love & Understanding (1976)
Following on the heels of their 1975 smash Spirit of the Boogie, Kool & the Gang hit the road to tour the album and record new material. One tumultuous show, at London’s Rainbow Theatre, became the core of Love & Understanding. Three live tracks, “Hollywood Swinging,” “Summer Madness,” and a dreamily mellow “Universal Sound,” are all excellent reminders of just how good this band could sound when they found the vibe and had the funk firmly in hand. But as good as this stuff is, there are ominous glimmers among the goods, of musical moves the band were contemplating — heard most markedly in the bland “Sugar” and “Do It Right Now.” For, despite the sureness with which they were creating driving funk, they were also struggling with the oncoming disco explosion. That push-pull was duly reflected in the album. The studio tracks are the most uneven. At their best, they are dominated by the opening title track and its near-instrumental twin shadow “Come Together,” which closes. Both songs are horn heavy, an insistent call for unity, love, and peace. The rest of the album is sandwiched between this jazzy cacophony but, despite the rocky moments, Love and Understanding remains a remarkable album, recorded at a time when the band was still reveling in the grip of pure funk, uncorrupted by the mainstream. (AMG)
Tracks:
1. Love and Understanding (Come Together)
2. Sugar
3. Do It Right Now
4. Cosmic Energy
5. Hollywood Swinging (Live)
6. Summer Madness (Live)
7. Universal Sound (Live)
8. Come Together
**Listen**
*Gracias a Leshafunk por tan magnifico aporte
3 comentarios
Julio 5, 2009 a 10:09 pm (Funk)
Spirit Of The Boogie (1975)
Discussing Kool & the Gang in the early ’70s, James Brown enthused, “They’re the second-baddest out there…They make such bad records that you got to be careful when you play a new tape on the way home from the record store. Their groove is so strong you could wreck.” And that really says it all. Kool & the Gang were funk’s kings in 1975, and Spirit of the Boogie was the finest album they ever recorded — the staggering climax of their development thus far. The record-buying public thought so too — the album gave the band their first Top Five R&B hit. Spirit of the Boogie may have been first and foremost a funk masterpiece, but it was also so much more. From the African art on the foldout sleeve to the spiritual and musical purity of many of the songs, this album not only bound the band’s reverence for their roots to a blistering, street-smart funk, but also demonstrated a keen awareness of their own role in their musical odyssey. “Ancestral Ceremony” pays homage by quoting from Kool’s earlier songs, while “Jungle Jazz” tracks back to the original pounding jams that imbibed 1973’s “Jungle Boogie.” The title track, meanwhile, is quintessential Kool & the Gang — fiery funk which is kept in check by rhythm and chant. It gave the band a springtime number one on the R&B charts — their third. This is a phenomenal set, a superlative album. And because the grooves are so strong, it’s easy to forgive weak moments — most especially the mawkish “Sunshine and Love.” Kool & the Gang were outstanding during this period, before they caught the disco bug. Spirit of the Boogie remains a proud achievement. (AMG)
Tracks:
1. Spirit of the Boogie
2. Ride the Rhythm
3. Jungle Jazz
4. Sunshine and Love
5. Ancestral Ceremony
6. Mother Earth
7. Winter Sadness
8. Caribbean Festival
Bonus
9. Caribbean Festival (Disco Version)
**Listen**
5 comentarios
Julio 5, 2009 a 10:07 pm (Funk)
My Feel Love (1983)
New Yorker Vaughan Mason’s claim to fame is the spectacular disco/funk single “Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll,” credited to Vaughan Mason & Crew. That song, released on Brunswick, hit the top five of the U.S. R&B chart in 1980 and became the title track of the group’s first and only album. The single also became sample fodder for several rap songs, including Digital Underground’s “Doowutchyalike,” Heavy D’s “Black Coffee,” De La Soul’s “Cool Breeze on the Rocks,” and Redman’s “Slide and Rock On.” Two other singles from Vaughan Mason & Crew (“Roller Skate” and “Jammin’ Big Guitar”) followed for Brunswick, though neither fared hardly as well as the first. Later on, Mason teamed up with Butch Dayo for a pair of Salsoul singles — “You Can Do It” and “Party on the Corner” — both of which stiffed. (AMG)
Tracks:
1. Oh, Love
2. Rollalong Songs
3. Feel My Love
4. Party On The Corner
5. You Can Do I
**Listen**
*Gracias a nuestro fiel colaborador, Kunio
3 comentarios
Julio 5, 2009 a 8:53 pm (R&B, Soul)
Makings Of A Dream (1977)
At the heigth of 70’s R&B and soul came Crackin’. An undiscovered and underrated rock and soul band that were way ahead of their time. Lester Abrams keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist was co-writer of “Minute by Minute” the Doobie Bros. hit and his writing on this record/CD is just as impressive. The tunes are a hybrid of soul, gospel, and pop. The playing is awesome and the singing is remarkable. Two of the singers are the driving backgrounds on Ricky Lee Jones’ first record including “Chuck E’s in Love”. While the production may hint at the band’s limited budget the performance and vibe are wonderful. Why Warner Bros let this band fall by the wayside after three really strong albums is a mystery and a sin. The greater sin is why they are all unavailable. Another great soul band lost in the Disco landslide.(Amazon)
Tracks:
1. Feel Alright
2. Take Me To The Bridge
3. Beautiful Day
4. I Want To Sing It To You
5. Well And Good
6. Who You Want Me To Be
7. What Goes Around Comes Around
8. You’re Winning
9. (There’s A) Better Way
**Listen**
*Gracias a kunio nuevamente
1 comentario
Julio 5, 2009 a 8:47 pm (R&B, Soul)
Crackin’ (1977)
Crackin’ is a legendary group of Peter Bunetta and Rick Chudacoff featuring Leslie Smith. Their 1st album “Crackin’” was released in 1975 without Peter Bunetta. Then Peter jined the band and released three albums in 1977 and 1978. This 4th album, the last album of the group was produced by Michael Omartian and featuring Ernie Watts and Jay Graydon. And you may be aware of the name of R. Dupris… Yes, he is Robbie Dupree. After the group disbanded, Peter Bunetta and Rick Chudacoff made so many productions in early 80’s, including Robbie Dupree’s albums.(www.wcmusic.info)
Tracks:
1. It Just Takes A While
2. The Force Is Watching You
3. Fallen Dancer
4. I Know You Can
5. Do You Need More Time
6. Don’t You Wish You Could Be There
7. You Know Where I Am
8. The World’s A Fool For You
9. You’ll Feel Bette
**Listen**
*Agradecimientos a Kunio por otro aporte
2 comentarios
Julio 5, 2009 a 12:15 am (Disco, Funk, R&B, Soul)
Vol.4 (2009).
Four massive albums from Average White Band — served up in one 2CD package! Feel No Fret is a great set that showcases the group’s best second suit — their smooth compressed late 70s soul sound — a great evolution of their earlier groove, and one that showed them as a great mainstream soul act! The tunes are a bit mellower overall, but still have a lot of crackle and warmth — and Hamish Stuart’s lost none of his vocal charm, and in fact may even sound better in a more laidback, less funky heavy setting! With the great break track “Stop The Rain” — and the cuts “When Will You Be Mine”, “Please Don’t Fall In Love”, “Walk On By”, “Feel No Fret”, “Atlantic Avenue”, “Ace Of Hearts”, “Too Late To Cry” and “Fire Burning”. Volume VIII is something of a greatest hits record by the group — one that bore the original tag “This album gives the listener a rare opportunity to taste the past and present of the Average White Band.” What does that mean? Well, it means that the band only came up with 4 new songs for the record — including “Kiss Me”, “Love Won’t Get In The Way”, “Love Gives Love Takes Away”, and “Growing Pains” — all good numbers, though, and expanded here with the bonus track “Miss Sun”. Shine features great later grooves from Average White Band — a real gem from the point when the group was settling nicely into a mellow soul vein! By this point, the combo wisely realized that they couldn’t keep things going forever as a funky group — so they laid back and fell into their second strongest suit — the kind of mellow stepping rhythms that sparkled nicely between the bigger cuts on earlier records, produced to perfection here with a shimmeringly soulful feel! The album’s got a mature feel, and the lyrics are often understated and well-balanced — no easy crossover soul or adult contemporary cliches — just the kind of warmth the band was always known best for. Titles include “Into The Night”, “Our Time Has Come”, “Catch Me”, “For You For Love”, “Help is On The Way”, “If Love Only Lasts For One Night”, and “Shine”. Also features bonus tracks “Wasn’t I Your Friend” and “Let’s Go Round Again (12″ version)”. Cupid’s In Fashion is from the early 80s, but still totally great — a record that has the Average White Band stepping along in smooth jazzy style — still with all their best 70s roots intact! The group are tight, yet still far from commercial — beautifully suited to the warmly soulful sounds they’d reached by this point — less of the hard funk of before, but in its place a mature groove that’s totally great. Titles include “You Wanna Belong”, “Cupid’s In Fashion”, “You’re My Number One”, “Love’s A Heartache”, “I Believe”, and “Easier Said Than Done”.(Dusty Groove Inc.)
Tracks:
CD 1.
Feel Not Fret:
01. When Will You Be Mine
02. Please Don’t Fall In Love
03. Walk On By
04. Feel Not Fret
05. Stop The Rain
06. Atlantic Avenue
07. Ace Of Hearts
08. Too Late To Cry
09. Fire Burning
Volume VIII:
10. Kiss Me
11. Love Gives, Love Takes Away
12. Growins Pains
13. Love Won’t Get In The Way
Bonus:
14. Miss Mun (Bonus)
Shine (Part.1):
15. Our Time Has Come
16. For You, For Love
17. Let’s Go’Round Again
18. Watcha Gonna Do For Me?
CD 2.
Shine (Part.2):
01. Into The Night
02. Catch Me (Before I Have To Testify)
03. Help Is On The Way
04. If Love Only Lasts For One Night
05. Shine
Bonus Tracks:
06. Wasn’t I Your Friend
07. Let’s Go’ Round Again (12″ version)
Cupid’s In Fashion:
08. You’re My Number One
09. Easier Said Than One
10. You Wanna Belong
11. Cupid’s In Fashion
12. Theatre Of Excess
13. I Believe
14. Is It Love That You’re Running From
15. Reach Out (I’ll Be There)
16. Isn’t It Strange
17. Love’s A Heartache
16 comentarios
Love & Understanding (1976)
