Martin L. Dumas, Jr. - Attitude, Belief & Determination

Well, I finally, finally got a copy. It's a grail amongst the two-step and boogie crowd. It's also rare as shit. Harder to find than a mosquito dick. Even in Chicago this record has been known to be impossible to find. Our good folks from both far and near, from the folks at Cherries Records to Peabody's know this track doesn't turn up very often. Speaking of the Peabody's and Chicago this song is the mascot, if you will, of the amazing compilation by the Peabody's called 'The Real Side Of Chicago'. Most of you know about this comp, but until I had this glorious Martin Dumas 12 inch in my greasy hands the comp was the only way I had it.


The song is a serious mood setter, and epic at almost 10 minutes. It also has this awesome salsa or brazilian turn around that it plays with throughout the song. This is definite driving music, ripe for cruising around in a convertible or old school ride on a sunday. What I love most is it's positive message it's the kind we need more of in our world.

Martin L. Dumas, Jr. - Attitude, Belief & Determination

Ben - I Would Have To Be a Fool

This kinda ended up being a regular spin at Sweaterfunk. I don't know how it got into my crates but once it did, it was a staple. Rather nice record to have because it has the regular vocal version, and right after it the instrumental version. Even stranger that it's one sided 12 inch. We clearly needed another side from this guy. I don't know anything about Ben, but this record appears to be from the L.A. area. lol. Its just darn good quality indie-soul and this track is a classy boogie jam.
It somehow made it's way into Jon Blunck's crates as well, and played on the regular. With the two of us having it, that meant it was played a lot. I was just reminiscing about SF and how I haven't been able to make it in ages. Jon just recently assured me my membership was 'fo life' and after getting jumped in there's no escaping. I'm not going to push the subject any farther than that. After all, Jon is from Los Angeles, and dresses like a gang banger and I probably don't want to play around.. might end up in the bay with cement shoes on.

This track was just released on 'Under The Influence' number 3 compiled by the homie James Glass. Shit, I've known James for something like 20-25 years. We've gone from bugging out over Dorothy Ashby LP's to wigging out on Willie Wood and the Willie Wood Crew. He's been into disco much, MUCH, longer than I, but we've met in the middle somewhere called boogie. Good chap he is, and a deep digger with a lethal collection. Known for only holding stone cold mint copies of things, he also shows with this comp, his tastes are immaculate as well.

Enjoy this Ben track..


Ben - I Would Have To Be a Fool

Betty Padgett - Sugar Daddy

I owe a tremendous amount of praise and recognition to Andrew Morgan of PPU and Earcave. I've been buying records from his ebay account and his ebay store long before his label came about and long before his ear cave store...which if I remember correctly was originally called District Wax. He used to make monthly mixes to share with his customers. They used to be listed along side his auctions as actual 'for sale' items. It was a kind of genius idea, and I think he still is just that, genius.
He's helped me a tremendous amount with my collecting and my label and other endeavors. Now, I'm passing along the torch to others I can help.
One of his mixes, I think possibly one of the last few (as it seems he stopped them) had this incredible Betty Padgett song 'Sugar Daddy' and I bugged him about it quite a bit.

For a good while this did not show up. Then I jumped on the opportunity to nab an album of Betty's that has both versions of Sugar Daddy. I was at first, holding out for the 12 inch version which Andrew had hipped me to, but I couldn't bare to wait any longer and it never seemed to turn up.
So, after I got the album version, which fortunately has both versions of the song on it, I shared it with the Sweater Funk folks down in the basement of the Lipo Lounge. A year or two later it came out on Luv N' Haight records diguised in a sleeve very similar to that original 12 inch version. That kinda did me in, and my thinking then was it was going to elude me even more now that the 'world' would know about it.

Here's the bas ass Ultra release of Betty's Sugar Daddy

But, last year I finally got a copy of the Ultra 12 inch and its Beautiful. I realize now why it's a hard one to grab. It's a reoccurring problem with rare releases that the spelling can have you searching for an un-obtainable piece. A simple typo with an artists name and you'll NEVER find it. This was the case with Betty Padget, or Betty Padgett.

Here's the well cloned Luv N' Haight version

Betty's a small woman, but a power house singer. She's from New Jersey but somehow ended up in Miami and recorded some tunes with none other than Milton Wright. Betty has this incredible side of deep, deep Miami groove to show for her efforts, she even remembers this song being used in radio and tv commercials due to local popularity. She's remained in the Miami area over the last 30 years and performed with the McCrae's (George and Gwen) as well as Jimmy Bo Horne, Latimore and Little Beaver.

If you can't get the 12 inch, THIS is the album to get.
It's on the ALWA label

Betty is still alive and rocking.. has recent CD's and 'Sugar Daddy' is available now thru Luv N' Haight and via mp3 download.
Hats off to you Betty, I'm glad to finally have your 12 inch and will rock and share it where ever I play.

And, here's yet another issue of the 12 inch which I have never seen on the Space label.

Betty Padgett - Sugar Daddy

Vaughan Mason - Rocking Big Guitar

Just scored two nice Vaughan Mason 45's for the collection. Well known bomb ass tunes that are dope to have in the 45 format. 'Rocking Big Guitar' and 'You Can Do It' are indeed classic party rockers in my book. Major plus that they are both picture sleeves.
Don't know why every time I hear 'Rocking Big Guitar' it sounds like to me they are saying 'feel my dick get hard'? You can ad-lib the rest of your own dirty lyrics if you want. Perhaps it was intended to be a vulgar jam.

These 45's are ripe for some upcoming gigs over the next two weekends. If you're in the Bay Area (Particularly the EAST BAY)  there's a few things to check out we here at SB approve of.
Perfect for the 45 loving crowd, Friday night, Feb. 21st in Oakland at the legendary '45 Sessions' and Saturday, March 1st for 'Where It's At' which is now a merger between them and Lower Bottoms. So, two nice parties, and sure to be loads of funk, soul and goodness...often on 45 only. Perhaps you will see or hear yours truly at one or both of these events. The Sweaterfunk crew is one of the guest for 45 sessions and the 'Where It's At' party has a solid line up of performers The Grease Traps and Iron Sides both on the already legendary Colemine label.

Known world wide 45 Sessions always comes thru with the epic parties,
and always features a record swap in a near by room, don't miss.

This particular Oakland Saturday night promises to be a good partay.

Im just showing off here... but, love this little 45!

And, oh..by the way...this Rocking Big Guitar is from the 12inch version and is an enormous file. So, may take a minute to download. Just a heads up. I decided to upload the LONGER and better 12 inch version. But, does NOT come in a sweet picture sleeve cover. lol. 

Vaughan Mason - Rocking Big Guitar

Myron And E - They Don't Know

These boys are GOLDEN. This album has been in my playlist since I got a hold of it. And, its growing on me more and more every day. It's golden material all throughout..not stuck in the past music that it emulates but, breathing enough life into it enough to do something new. At least that's how it feels. Yet, it feels remarkably contemporary. Not going to be capable of being pigeonholed as 'retro' soul. And thank god. True soulies know.

These two and a exceptional band, The Soul Investigators, have been putting out quality on the TIMMION label for a minute, and this new venture on Stones Throw will likely put them into the ears and hearts of a whole new audience, and perhaps a new generation. Good for Myron and E and good for those ears. It collects tunes from both Timmion albums and some tunes NOT on the Timmion releases. 'Broadway' is being commandeered as the US version of these releases. There's so many tunes on this LP that I really like, and 'They Don't Know', although a small sample from their catalog, will have to suffice for my share for now. It's such a solidly mature and endearing soul LP. 'If I Gave You My Love' is absolute straight bomb. 'Broadway' and 'Everyday Love' are true sweet soul grooves and all are real catchy and addictive. "Going in Circles' and 'They Don't Know' drift into heavier subject matter..and it's a welcome treat..part of the real appeal of this LP for me. Some thoughtful looks into class/social/behavior and relationships throughout the LP. Meanwhile 'Do It Do It Disco' might be the burner of the year, this AND last. They are seasoned soul travelers and this venture into disco, almost in a BT Express fashion, is hypnotizing and completely lovable.

 Check out the video here...

 

Usually here on this blog we are opposed to posting newer material. But, that's been longing to change for quite some time. There's so much material we want to share, so we've decided to not deny our fellow fans and music lovers. And, additionally this is the perfect gem to break those old rules anyways!
In 2014 and onward we're going to highlight new acts, re-issues, and anything else we see fit. But, we'll probably still stick to things on vinyl...but, we'll see.

All I gotta say is well done fellas. This is a solid album and highest grade of appreciation for it here at Sound Boutique. We just hope they won't be mad at us for sharing one little genius of a song.

Myron And E - They Don't Know

Dohnnie - Dancing Is Your Love

It took me much longer than most to really 'get into' disco. I remember heads were nuts for disco and I was still stuck in a funk rut only stretching out into rare groove. Rare groove was about as close to true disco sound as I was willing to get. I'm still kind of that way. I'm still super picky as to what disco tunes I can endorse. I understand it, and it's all dope to me, and I'm not hating...but, you'll see here on this blog pretty nominal traces of disco. My homies were getting knee deep in Patrick Adams and the Peter Brown sound, but I never really went crazy for it the same way as them. Sure, I'm in love with 'Guardian Angels Watching Over Me' as much as the next man, but never ga-ga over the entire catalog.

This Dohnnie track is one of those exceptions. This is the kind of disco tune that I can fully endorse. So, in a lot of respects the time has definitely come. I'm as into the disco sound as the next head. Furthermore, I'm quite partial to a lot of the Disco Rap I'm discovering. This particular case there's more emphasis on song structure and changes, bridges etc., so this could be considered a R&B jam dressed up in a disco style. There's wicked bongos and a constant perculation of backing rhythms. Combined wah-wah guitars and excellent bass playin' with hand claps makes for a perfect formula for breakers and that's what I imagine for this tune. Like a breakin' scene in a Fame or Flashdance style cheesy 80's movie. Peep the Moog solo at the end. Even me, a minor disco fan can enjoy these disco style backing vocals when properly sprinkled throughout. It's a good tune. I'm sold.

I played this tune at the last Grow Up that I dj'ed. I had a good time that night and they recorded the mix. You can find it here. Randy Ellis had invited me to spin and I'm glad I did. I almost had to cancel. It let me branch out in a few areas I don't normally dabble in. Randy is also one of our newest sellers at Vamp. He's brought good shit in the shop, and been about strictly dope music in my eyes. As you'll hear from the recorded set, it's a bit janky and dis-organized. I really didn't have time to put together what I wanted to play. My Mom was still in critical care at the hospital at that time and when I got records together for the gig I just grabbed EVERYTHING. Ended up being two chock full crates. I ended up only playing 1/4th of what I brought. The stress and turmoil I was going through caused me to over pack. This is why I almost pulled a no show, I almost couldn't make it happen. There was just too much crazy shit going on for me. But, SO glad I came through and did it. The crowd was all about love and people seemed to enjoy my crazy shit. I would have liked to spend a little more time putting my set together, but I still played some good tracks.

So, here's the Grow Up set I did....
Grow Up - Sean Boogie
and, here's the Dohnnie track...
Dohnnie - Dancing Is Your Love

 

I'll be guest spinning in February 2012 again at Grow Up and have promised all new goodies to share.
It'll be fun. I plan to branch out even more delving even further into italo, disco, disco rap, and electro. Stayed tuned...more deets to come as I'll plug it again a little closer to the date.

Big props to Randy Ellis. He's putting together dope shit left and right and quite the savage behind the decks. Always incredible tunes. And, oops almost forgot to mention his fantastic label of newer boogie, electronica, and future funk>> VOLTAIRE RECORDS!!! check it!

Grow Up - Sean Boogie
Dohnnie - Dancing Is Your Love

Gregory Jolly - What'em Doing Is My Business

This is a seriously bad ass cut. It's smooth and fauwnky as hell. The organ and guitar work together to create a wall of syncopation like some kind of sweet subtle genius I've rarely ever heard. It seems to be yet another one of these solid pimp anthems, like a bad ass super fly disco theme. Mellow, yet hard as hell. It comes with two certified stamps of approval in the funk and disco world, being produced by none other than Calvin Arnold and arranged by famed disco head honcho Tommy Stewart. A secret weapon created by disco kings if you will. Definitely a rare piece in the Tommy Stewart collection.

Tommy Stewart

It's a big grail in my eyes, but doesn't exactly have the recognition of being that of true grail status, mostly due to being relatively unknown. Which I think has proved to help me obtain this copy. Now that I'm letting the cat out of the bag and sharing this, I expect it will climb in price and prove to be even more elusive. I've posted a few sweet nuggets that have had minimal exposure, for example, with no known YouTube action, and then watched them surprise me with exhaustive pricing on eBay. That's not so good for those hunting these records, but good for me. At least it shows that folks are listening and watching what we do. But, like the song says...'What'em Doing Is My Business' and that's for real.

Gregory Jolly - What'em Doing Is My Business

Leo Roy - Pound For Pound

this upcoming sunday 'we gon' git down'

 

Here's a slice of disco funk for your enjoyment. Just more Peter Brown discoey goodness. A lot has been going on lately and its a bit overwhelming. There's some exciting things too, but mostly stuff I've got to keep under wraps until its ripe to share. My family is back and in and out of the hospital and Sweaterfunk is in limbo. So far, it's been a turbulent year. As you can tell I've come to a slow roll with the posts and even though I'm making time now, it's gonna be short and sweet. More from me when all the dust settles. Soon my brothers and sisters, soon. Keep the faith.

Leo Roy - Pound For Pound

Frank Alstin - It Must Be Love This Time

Here's another jam that seems ripe for the summertime. I know very little about Frank Alstin, however he had quite a few tries at this particular jam. This version has a very home spun almost demo tape sound to it. He recorded it again in 1986 with the fabulous Jean Carne. And, in 1992 it was revamped and given a few 'house' remixes and released in the UK. We know close to nothing about the rest of his career, but this little slab of funk boogie soul definitely increases the desire for more of the same caliber. He did pen a few songs for First Choice, Loleatta Holloway, Sandra Phillips and The Jones Girls. Not a bad gang of folks to be associated with!

This earliest version is the best version in my eyes, but it's hard to deny the excellent vocals from Jean Carne. This version lacks those extra female vocals but does have a crisp snappy funk feel and some excellent synth soloing. Although a lot of the versions out there are dated 1983 but, seem to be the later version from 86. I'm happy to share this track as it seems to be the hardest version to come by and doesn't go for cheap these days. I hope you enjoy.

Frank Alstin - It Must Be Love This Time

Gregg Jolly - Love Is

A pretty simple formula here for this disco bluesy number. Gregg Jolly, on the other hand is anything but simple. And, anything but known, discovered or appreciated. His few and extremely rare releases are hard to come by. All of them except for this one have still evaded me. This is one of his most available recordings. I often wonder what other recordings he was a part of that didn't feature his name. His vocal style boasts that he can hang with the likes of the great Al Green. He's been showcased and endorsed by the rare groove king Tommy Stewart on another elusive 12 inch and this release saw assistance from the great Bobby Robinson and his hip hop founding label Enjoy records. It's no wonder that this had such a disco feel, and the open drum break in the middle is ripe for classic Ultimate Breaks And Beats style editing.

Half way into the song Gregg really dips into his vocal soloing and almost goes Al Green ballistic. Even the title 'Love Is' feels as though it's an homage. But, even though he had less than a handful of records, he etched out his own brand of disco and funk. The drums are brutal and relentless throughout making me scratch my head thinking is that a drum machine or did they loop it? Clearly this drummer earned his keep in the studio. This oddly sounds more like 1976 than it's release date of 1981, but further proof that the blues was alive and well in the early 80's. If you are Gregg Jolly, know his whereabouts, or had anything to do with his recordings please let us know. We're madly obsessed with G-J and will do just about anything to track him or his records down.

It's just another slice of funkiness I wanted to share, and as I track down his other records I will post them here. If and when I can find them, as they are stupid rare.

Gregg Jolly - Love Is

Homegrown Syndrome - Confrontation

Big ups to my man Renmin
Cardona. This is a Soundboutique exclusive courtesy of Renmin. Not only does he have the coolest name in the world, but he's truly one of the coolest cats I know. It's rare I come across someone so honest, so mellow, so cool, and with such a great sense of humor. So, I gotta give him dap. But, let's rub his thick cool cat coat of fur a little more...He's deep in the crates game and discovered this true gem of a song by Homegrown Syndrome. WOW! When he first told me about the title, I thought it sounded cheesy as hell. But, once his portable turntable got up to 45 rpm, I also got up to speed with this killer disco boogie cut. Such a aggressive disco burner, complete with tuff breakdown. Anybody that still unearths gems and digs deep until they find something new, get mad, mad respect from me.

He's been a crew member of Sweaterfunk for a few years and along side Proof has brought us two volumes of 'Night Shift', which was one of the earliest boogie mix Cd's floating around San Francisco. He's also my right hand man in busting out with our own pressings of vinyl. More to come in the future. Let's pedal backwards a little to his name, although understand this.. the name does not make the man. How cool is the name Renmin? I mean, you don't have to change your name for DJ flyers or nothin'! Sure, he gets the most amount of ad libs due to the 'Ren' and 'min' in his name...but, this guy is sooooo cool and soooooo mellow, he's usually crackin' the jokes on himself. A comedy style much like myself. But, his humbleness is in it's purest form I would say. My favorite is REN DMC, or rather the more fitting REN DJC. I noticed on his record box the other day it said 'Philip E. Knowles', as in 'Filipinos', truly a cool breeze of a brother in my eyes. So, in addition to the constant humor you have him to thank for discovering this nice little disco boogie funk track.

Sadly this was Homegrown's only offering. Even in 1981 bands got signed to majors like Arista and were dropped like hot cakes with or without a chance for a full length LP. In this case, without a full length album shot. There was an additional issue of this 45 released with the tune 'You And Me Baby' on the flip. It's rumored that this band was in fact a band called 'Home Grown Funk' that recorded with and were under the wing of Ike Turner. But, this can't be confirmed as of yet, it may have been a name for the band that Ike carried around with him for some time supplying it with whomever backed him up. There's an album called 'The Edge' by 'Ike Turner and Home Grown Funk' which appears to be the same group, but again it's not confirmed and hard to pin point.  Homegrown Syndrome were Los Angeles based and Home Grown Funk were from Memphis. It gets confusing with the 'Edge' album release as it's dated 1980, yet sounds more like 1973. Even more affirming is the appearance of Tina Turner's vocals on the 'Edge' album, probably just a marketing of previously unreleased material. Maybe Ike had a hand in helping to sign 'Homegrown' to Arista for the release of this 45.

Whoever Homegrown Syndrome were, if you're out there...we want to know you. We are thankful here on this blog for your music. Again, props are due to Renmin Cardona for discovering and sharing this great tune. Truly a Jedi in the music world and a cool dude to boot. A.k.a Philip!

Homegrown Syndrome - Confrontation

Vandales - Feeling Freaky (soundboutique edit)

A ridiculously infections party disco groove, cutesy little love bug style song. In fact, the guitar sounds a bit like a bee buzzing about. Not much on these guys either, just this one 45. Great vocals and a groove that you'll have to listen to over and over again to realize how layered it is. It's rich with strings, horns, and some killer flute playing. Again, another record that's layered heavily with multiple guitars. The flip side is part two, and keeps going with more of the same. This is one that may take time to grow on you. But, it's a silent deadly killer. Disco fast food if you will, engineered for your enjoyment.

Update: Right before posting this I decided to re-edit both sides together. So, now you get part one and part two all in one track. I've never posted any of my edits. Not one single damn edit. So, this is a first for this blog. Maybe, there'll be more. But, I really couldn't just leave you with only this one side of this 45. I had to share the extended version. Or, rather make it an extended version. So, here you go..my first edit on the crappy Audacity program. Somebody get me Protools or Cubase PLEASE! Again, this is a true soundboutique exclusive just for you.

I was going to ask a contest question:
Who can tell me at what point the song is edited from part one to two?
(Hint: it's not where you would think it is)
But, two major problems arose with this contest question idea.
1. I have no prize.
2. I forgot where the edit is myself!
Well, so much for that idea. But, for the first official soundboutique edit, it's freakin' CLEAN. Brand new baby spankin' clean. So, clean in fact that it's better than the original studio edit where they punch in the backing vocals. Oh, well. If you can guess it (for example...like 1min43sec) and it's close, you may win something. Or, whoever is closest, still don't know what the prize would be...but, perhaps I can whip something up. Let's just say I'm proud of myself and leave it at that.

Vandales - Feeling Freaky (soundboutique edit)

Now 'N - The Bomb

Here's a cute one. From the 'We're Just A School Band' EP released in 1983. I'm not sure what they're saying in this one, I can barely make out the lyrics. What I can make out is cool enough. But, for some kids they come up with a nice lil' art-disco-rock thingy and it's quite charming in its own goofy way. I don't know why but these kids seem to be influenced by The Clash more than just a little bit. Don't you think so? Not sure what it is that makes me think that, but it's odd enough, punk enough, and funky enough that somehow that makes sense. Perhaps its the echoing sax solo. Maybe it's the lyrics about bombs and revolution. Kids make the freshest stuff, totally new, hybrid and free of conventional rules. Other than that, this tune is WICKEDLY African sounding, almost highlife disco funk if you will.
Rad picture sleeve with them on the cover in the early morning mist, maybe in their school yard. Would kill to hear the story behind this one, and how they got to make this record. Teachers are rad.  Teachers are rad. Teachers are rad. Especially if they help kids make reckkids!!!!
From the looks of the names they are dutch, but they're a cool looking diverse bunch. I love how Bass is Bas, Guitar is Gitaar, and if you want me to Zang you a tune, you'll soon learn I'm not the best Zanger. Reminds me of something out of 'I Love You Man' like, when I slappa da bas.
Mon. 
So, if you were in this band or had school mates that cut this record give me a call! I wanna talk to you. And, if you've never heard of these kids like me, take a listen to this number and see what these cool kids came up with. 'So when I try to change the subject......' La la la. I'm pretty sure it's like nothing you've ever heard before.



Now 'N - The Bomb

Jimmie And Vella Cameron - Be Fair To Me

Excellent Soul Duo that I've followed from their earliest release up until their 'Song Painters' LP in 1981. Partly my interest in them stemmed from them having killer looking covers. From the late 60's and early 70's mod look on the cover of 1968's 'Heartbeat' LP to the afro's and dashikis of 1971's self titled 'Jimmie And Vella' they've looked cool as ice. Then in 1981, none other than Barry White produced and arranged, and released on his own label 'Unlimited Gold' another marvelous soul LP. So, the other part of interest in initially picking them up was 'whoa, who are these two?'. Unfortunately, with three albums from three separate decades I'm still asking that same question. Not much is known about this husband and wife duo and they have had a ghost like career floating about through several decades with no real huge success. But, their legacy is deep and such a talented duo they are indeed.




Success might have eluded them, but milestones are what they left us on all three of these LP's. They bounced around on a different label for each decade. 'Heartbeat' is a quality straight soul LP with stunning production but it most known for the tune 'Hey Boy Over There' which was also flipped by DJ Premier. It's a great soul LP produced in a very typical style for 68-71 in Los Angeles. Released on the Imperial label.




In 1971 Jimmie and Vella expanded and deepened their sound with 'Jimmie And Vella' released on Atlantic Records. They turned away from commercial stresses, explored more folky grooves and wrote about social issues and injustice. In 'Lord Abide With Me' they came with a heavy gospel and revolutionary feel. This 'self-titled' LP is a fine crafting and example of 'hippie soul' or 'folk funk'. At times laid back and delicate and at other times empowering, passionate and furious. Just a well rounded work.

They spent some time laying low and dabbling in various studio projects, writing a few things here and there but, mostly went unheard from. Back and ready for more in 1981 they had a fresh new sound and another attempt at a hit. Taking a chance with one of the biggest hit makers of the late 70's they recorded 'Song Painters'.  There are several good tunes on here, but by far 'Be Fair To Me' is the best. With Barry White at the controls, the hit from the LP was no doubt going to be a disco tune. But, with the interesting disco arrangements Barry was trying with his late 70's Love Unlimited records it could be something really different. Indeed it was, hard to tell if that helped our happy couple out or not. The intro is so far from typical that it makes the main parts of the song stand out with their genius  and diverse syncopation. The amazing strings and that use of multiple guitars! Dang, what is that? Acoustic, two on rhythm, one on the upbeat? It's pretty crazy, such a full and intricate production.But, a marvelous and somewhat rare song.

I will definitely get around to posting tracks from the first two LP's. But, for now I wanted to share this fine tune 'Be Fair To Me' (also, I couldn't find my copy of the 1971 LP) and the others will come soon. One of these days when I'm more organized you'll see a more complete exposure of an artist like Jimmie and Vella and that'll be sweet, but for now you'll have to track them down on your own.
Just maybe you'd never heard of Jimmie and Vella before?
Happy hunting!

'Jimmie And Vella Cameron - Be Fair To Me'

Three Ounces Of Love - Give Me Some Feeling

On this third day of the year, I give you the Three Ounces Of Love. I have been bumping this since Thanksgiving last year. I had never heard this LP before that. I was really surprised. I suppose I slept on this one thinking it was another mediocre or run-of-the-mill disco joint. Little did I know what I was missing. These three sisters are incredible. As soon as I heard 'Give Me Some Feeling' I was in heaven. The backing vocals, the soloist, all freakin incredible. And, some sweet arrangements to boot. Known as the Alexander sisters from Detroit, this was the only LP released by Ann, Elaine and Regina. They had two singles released from this LP and both basically bombed and they weren't heard from for ages. This LP was also produced by Brian Holland, of Motown fame, and the 'Ounces' only significant resurfacing was during a Motown tribute.

Ferocious vocal talent here folks. These sisters seriously set this shit on fire. This has been a long awaited and welcomed treat in my stacks lately. For true soul connoisseurs, its a royal treat. This LP is well rounded with excellent production and sultry arrangements for a big label sound. A few folks have had to endure me ranting about these gals everywhere I go lately. Now, you'll see what I'm talking about. This ones gonna be in the DJ bag for a bit.

The real kicker here is, is that this LP has The Suttons all over it. Mike and Brenda Sutton wrote and produced several of these tunes. Including the incredible ballad 'Today Will Soon Be Yesterday' which is nothing short of genius. I can't place who may have re-done this tune and possibly had some major success with it. If you can help on this, it would be much appreciated. I know I've heard it somewhere else...

The main tune here that melts my wig is 'Give Me Some Feeling', also written and produced by my fave Mike and Brenda. But, the LP is overall well rounded and pretty darned tasty. I'm glad I've stumbled across it again and given it a sec to warm up on me. I'm including this song along with a few other stand out cuts on the LP. Fans of more disco-y sounds will want to check this out. I've focused on the slower and funkier tracks, but it'll make disco kids smile too. Fortunately for the Three Ounces they picked more mid-tempo tunes and steered away from a full on disco LP, a trend that was dying in '78 when this was released. That may have given them more life in the biz at the time. That may be why I had originally not noticed it, thinking it was just that..another formula disco outing. Either way, these chicks were not short on talent. It's a shame they didn't record further into the 80's like the Jones Girls for example. They had A LOT or potential and I would have loved to hear what they would have sounded like in 1982.

Once you delve into these sisters and enjoy this fine LP you too will probably want more. I know they started out with some Northern Soul stuff produced by none other than Mr. Popcorn Wylie, but I don't have any of those 45's. I'm not sure anything ever came out on 45 or on the Pameline label, it may be stuff that was unreleased that surfaced later on? Not entirely sure. Again, I would hope those that have more info would share in the comments below. I've heard as well that they had something on IX Chains Records, but again, I don't have it and haven't heard it. Could be fantastic...who knows. But, you'll have to wrestle with me over anything with their name on it at the record swap.

Three Ounces Of Love - Give Me Some Feeling
Three Ounces Of Love - Bet You'll Come Running
Three Ounces Of Love - In The Middle Of The Feeling
Three Ounces Of Love - Today Will Soon Be Yesterday

Fonzi Thorton - I Work For A Living

In spirit and celebration of the new Nile Rodgers presents The Chic Organization: Box set ... comes this offering from the lesser know soundtrack to 'Soup For One'. It's only available in this soundtrack. This track by Fonzi Thorton 'I Work For A Living' is some of the finest work by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards. It's really a well hidden secret Chic track. The bass and guitar work together like rapid fire machine guns. I don't think the Chic sound was played this hard or with this fury as it was with this particular track. It's only made even more special by featuring Fonzi who only had a brief glimpse of a recording career. Mostly Fonzi was hidden from the limelight and probably could have been a bigger star. Although he could have had much success on his own, he provided many with excellent backing vocals and gave his time to tour with Chic. This is solid anthem material here... a working class anthem to boot. The other really tasty tune on this soundtrack is the mellow 'Soup For One' title cut by Chic. It too is amazing.
I have to say I was un-impressed by the Chic box set. Disappointed really. I think many of us, huge fans of this particular track, had hoped for a nice edit or re-working at some point. I had (as I assume many others had also) hoped that the re-edit or extended version of 'Work For A Living' on this collection was going to be the grail I had always waited for. But, it falls a bit short. The drum tracks are a bit disco-y (or rather house style.. u know.. um sist um sist um sist) and in fact sound as if they used a drum machine. So, a bit of a bummer for me. Perhaps I'll get around to extending it myself. But, somebody should do it justice. Maybe some of you know of a better edit or version. But, still this tune is a monster. Sooooo good. Further on the Box set....what!? no crazy 'Good Times' extended rhythm tracks or outtakes?? Crazy right? Maybe in Volume Two, they'll go there. They really SHOULD.

You'll be happy to know this rip is from the Original Soundtrack LP and NOT the box set. But, you should still go out and get it too. See if you like the treatment. Anyone out there seen this 'Soup' movie?

Fonzi Thorton - I Work For A Living

Rasa - Questions In My Mind

Recently I've been throwing a pile of records together that I'm hoping will resemble some kind of theme. What I've got so far is a bunch of Blue-eyed Boogie, Yacht Soul, Funky Rock, and late 70's disco pop rock. Hopefully it will resemble the theme I'm thinking of, and I think I'm gonna call it "Bow Tie Funk". In that quest for more of that same sound and any thing that might strike me as the quintessential track for the comp, I'm flipping through more rock records than ever. Recently I came across this Rasa LP. Now, I'm a huge fan of hippy funk, so already it's a treat of an LP for me. I feel as though I've seen this record everywhere, and maybe even passed on it a few times. So, I give it a listen. I'm drawn to this 'Questions' song right away as the stand out track. It's from this Lp "Everything You See Is Me" and mostly a groovy rock, hippy thing but, it certainly has its moments. The melodies left an imprint that lasted throughout the rest of my week long digging vacation. So, it'll most definitely make it on my mix/comp. and just thought I'd throw it up here as well. This blog will be updated when the mix is ready and a few nuggets from it may show up here before as well. In fact, I'm so lazy and busy (yes, both at the same time) it may not be a mix and end up just being several tracks on this blog. We shall see, but for now..n-joy!

COMING SOON - BOW TIE FUNK

Rasa - Questions In My Mind

Luther Davis Group - To Be Free

This has been comped by Funk Spectrum 3 and the Stones Throw re-issue label Soul Cal. But this piece of genius soul funk hails from Bakersfield of all places. A sweeping dancer but as indie as can be. See my last post. I think originally I started hearing about a new pocket of tunes that were making the rounds among the 'heads' and were getting the name 'free-soul' from mostly Japanese cats. The likes of Jon Lucien, Linda Lewis, Larry Saunders and JOB Orchestra. But, this was some time ago, and Free-Soul has come and gone as a genre. Nothing more than a name to help fellow enthusiasts via magazine and web. But, it turned me on to numerous gems. I have the Japanese to thank for turning me onto Linda Lewis, but that's another story (and a future post) and another chapter. So, this little tune, the flip to "You Can Be A Star" (Also Incredible- will post it soon as well) would also pass as Free-soul. Just kinda different, and well..free. Possibly meaning as well that it doesn't cater (or seem to) to any kind of pop standards. Smooth as hell yet still kinda home spun and hippy. Not really disco, but has the disco vibe. Not Funk, but very funky. In fact quite folky really. Just great rhythms, amazing harmonies and sweet brass melodies. Nothing like a space sweep to top it off. Just a genius soul tune, and indeed also a qualifier as indie-soul.

Luther Davis Group - To Be Free

American Gypsy

American Gypsy were a funk jazz outfit with deep mutating grooves and were slightly progressive and experimental. I was first hip to them in my endless quest for samples, and as usual stumbled on their drum sounds. And, as usual I was turned onto a richer sound that drew me into the entire LP and eventually a whole 'nuther style of music. Throaty big and lush vocals, much like Gil Scot-Heron, and tracks that totaled a vast array of influences. American Gypsy were in fact, American, but spent much time abroad. They spent a great deal of time in the Netherlands and released two Lp's there, one in the mid 70's and another in the early 80's. Sandwiched between the two is this excellent American release on the chess label. "Inside Out" starts as a classical music prelude number, and erupts into one the sickest drum and bass breaks I've ever put my ears on. The song changes yet again into a slower misty eyed groove, amazing! "Stuck on you" is a little more common fare disco style, but still a good indication of how capable American Gypsy were at transcending scenes. One could say they were well ahead of their time. They were indeed quite popular among other US musicians and had quite a period of notoriety for their live gigs. I suppose they found more appreciation overseas, but now they are well loved and appreciated here as well.

American Gypsy - Inside Out

American Gypsy - Stuck On You

Ganymed - Black Hole Five

MORE COSMIC - Ah, yes. indeed. Headed in a direction I suppose. Straight to outer space. Wanna ride? Ganymed appear to be a spaced out rock disco outfit pretty far out of their minds as well as out in space. They've got the heavy rock funk, and are a talented bunch. At a time where bands like Kiss and P-Funk were all dressing up in space outfits and make up, Ganymed were right in the middle. I don't think they really saw a difference between the two, and really fit in between the two. I mean, they rocked liked Kiss and funked like Funkadelic. They have several LP's and a few hearty funk bombs here and there. This is space disco at it's finest. Much like their rivals The Rockets and Kraut rockers Supermax they also step it up with a punkish edge. Nice one! Plenty more amazing videos of them on the ole' Youtube. So, check it.

Ganymed - Black Hole Five