Was passing through London this weekend, so I popped into my favourite record shop, Sounds of the Universe (See my earlier post), and bought a few beauties......
Soul Jazz Records presents New Orleans Funk Vol. 2
"This is Soul Jazz Records’ new journey into the heart of New Orleans and a guide to the city’s finest Funk music produced in the late 1960s and early 1970s.’
Featuring everyone from The Meters to Eddie Bo, Lee Dorsey to Betty Harris, this is a who’s who of the Crescent City’s most famous and most funky!
The city of New Orleans has deep musical roots that stretch back to Africa. New Orleans first gave birth to Jazz music, a Black musical form centred on rhythm, improvisation, freedom and collectivity at the turn of the century. Similarly in the late 1960s New Orleans Funk came to define a unique sound, mixing Caribbean rhythms, New Orleans second-line syncopation and rhythm and blues, all played by the Big Easy’s finest musicians. Whilst Jazz and Funk music spread throughout the world, many African-American musical traditions remained within the city limits such as Mardi Gras and Carnival, Saturday Night Fish Fries, Funeral Marching bands and much more which partly explains why New Orleans music is so unique.
The album comes with extensive sleeve-notes, exclusive photography and more, and is an essential guide to the musical landscape of New Orleans and - together with Soul Jazz Records’ earlier New Orleans’ releases - presents the definitive story of New Orleans Funk.
Although on the mainland coast, New Orleans is also surrounded by lakes giving the city an island feel. Similarly its proximity to Puerto Rico, Cuba, Haiti and the other West Indian Isles means that Latin and Caribbean musical influences are in its veins as much as American musical traditions.
The upside of this city’s isolation is that New Orleans musical traditions flourished away from those of the rest of America. A thriving city full of artists, musicians, singers, producers, record companies, studios (well one studio actually) led to a 24-hour, 7-day a week musical life, playing in clubs, bars, brothels, carnivals and parades.
The downside of the cities isolation from the rest of the US was that the city never developed a solid music industry to back up the creative over-supply. Whilst New York had Atlantic, Detroit had Motown, Memphis had Stax, Chicago had Chess, Los Angeles had Modern, New Orleans had a multitude of small businesses fighting for space - and often each other. Without the marketing, promotional weight, business nouse and financial clout, New Orleans labels found it hard to get the nationwide distribution necessary to fill the million-odd jukeboxes throughout the country. So whilst every family in America knows the music of Gladys Knight or Smokey Robinson few could tell you about – let alone hum a tune from - Benny Spellman, Inell Young, Warren Lee….This is far from being a reflection of the artists creativity or musicality - as anyone can tell you New Orleans melodies are the catchiest of all - more it is a reflection of the limitations of the local music industry.
Some New Orleans artists became successful throughout the US such as Fats Domino in the 1950s and in the late 1960s The Meters and Lee Dorsey, but many artists remained within the city limits.
This makes for a fascinating goldmine of music released by a complex myriad of small labels run mainly by New Orleans producers, promoters and artists themselves. New Orleans Funk 2 brings together many of these artists along with text, sleeve-notes and photographs that gives social and historical context to the incredibly funky music of New Orleans".(Sounds Of The Universe)
1. Gossip - Cyril Neville
2. If It's Good To You - Eddie Bo
3. Chicken Strut - Meters (The)
4. Show It - Betty Harris
5. Hot Pants - Hank Carbo
6. Tequila - Allen Toussaint
7. Right Place Wrong Time - Ray J
8. Hot Tomales - Prime Mates
9. You Keep Me Hnaging On - Bonnie & Sheila
10. Four Corners - Lee Dorsey
11. What Do You See In Her - Inell Young
12. Yeah You're Right You Know You're Right - Gaturs
13. Street Parade - Earl King
14. Twitch - Danny White
15. Rubber Band - Eddie Bo
16. Fortune Teller - Benny Spellman
17. Mama Said We Can't Get Married - Warren Lee
18. Soul Pusher - Joe Chopper
19. 12 Red Roses - Betty Harris
20. Hey Bo - Eddie Bo
21. Haven't I Been Good To You - Johnny Moore
22. Funky Belly - Warren Lee
23. Hold On Help Is On It's Way - Davis, G. & R. Tyler
24. Mr Big Stuff - Jimmy Hicks
25. Bo Diddley - Art Neville
26. Dapp - Porgy Jones
AND as walked into the shop this was playing on their system...and I just had to grab myself a copy..... a companion piece to the previous double albums, that SOUNDWAY records released.
Nigeria Disco Funk Special
The Sound of the Underground Lagos Dancefloor 1974-79
"
Wow! The excellent Sound Way records have surpassed themselves with this, the second part of a planned trio of Nigeria-focussed compilations. Following on from their essential collection of Nigerian highlife, this installment focuses on the homegrown disco and boogie sounds of the mid to late 1970s Lagos nightclub scene!
This is an incredible collection of super-obscure African disco and boogie that you will almost certainly never have heard before - this stuff is truly incredible and sits perfectly next to the American records that served as inspiration for these Nigerian musicians! Indeed, the DJs in the underground nightspots of mid to late 1970s Lagos would spin local talent like this alongside US import singles by the likes of Brass Construction, BT Express, and James Brown! Saturday and Sunday nights were for looking good and going out in late 1970s Lagos evidently!
This is an essential compilation that reveals Nigeria's secret disco treasure to the world! - and as with all the Sound Way releases, this comes with loads of notes and photos!".(Sound Of The Universe)
1. The Sahara All Stars — Take Your Soul
2. T-Fire — Will of the People
3. Asiko Rock Group — Lagos City
4. Johnny Haastrup — Greetings
5. Bongos Ikwue & The Groovies — You've Gotta Help Yourself
6. Jay-U Experience — Some More
7. Voice of Darkness — Mota Ginya
8. Dr Adolf Ahanotu — Ijere
9. S-Job Movement — Love Affair
PLUS THIS LIMITED 7 INCH....Inell Young - What Do You See In Her (Soul Jazz Records)
"
Soul Jazz Records are releasing a very special limited-edition (1000 copies) re-issue of an extremely rare 7” single as a taster for the forthcoming New Orleans Funk, vol.2. This 7” is the first in a new series of Soul Jazz Fan Club 7” re-issues. They are available EXCLUSIVELY from only the Soul Jazz Records and Sounds of The Universe websites or direct from our London store. That’s right - you will not be able to buy this elsewhere!
Inell Young’s “What Do You See In Her”, is a superlative piece of laid-back jazzy New Orleans Funk. Long a collector’s item, the single was released on the tiny Libra Records label in New Orleans in the early 1970s. Inell Young was one of a handful of super-talented female singers who worked with the legendary Eddie Bo at the end of the 1960s – Mary Jane Hooper, Marilyn Barbarin, Inez Cheatham.
This collector’s item is now available exclusively to you. But you better hurry, this is seriously-limited one-off pressing when they are gone, they’re gone..."(Soul Jazz Records)
1. Inell Young — What Do You See In Her
2. Inell Young — I Remember The Summer
"This is his new box set from Obey, limited to 1000 worldwide, featuring a split 7" with GLK and Free The Robots, backed with his new I Spit On Your Grave mix cd.
