Living in the streets 1
The first volume of this Ace Records series, compiling some overlooked and obscure collisions of soul, funk, disco, and jazz from the late '60s and 1970s, is actually not as good as the second installment. Still, hats off are in order for getting a relatively solid and sonically consistent anthology of this genre together, though a few of the outings are standard-issue '70s funk-soul-jazz fusion. Isaac Hayes (with his cover of "Use Me") is the most famous artist, the lineup being tilted toward some of the finer moments of funk-soul journeymen like Caesar Frazier and Ripple. Some left-field highlights, though, are Tammi Lynn's previously unreleased interpretation of "Light My Fire," embellished by some mighty suggestive groans; Cal Tjader's truly peculiar take on the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter," with some space-age electronics and wah-wah guitars; and Dave Hamilton's previously unissued, soundtrack-quality eerie "Marriage Is a State of Vibes," with its lean funk strut. Veterans of the '50s rock and R&B scene make unexpected updates into the psychedelic soul era on Preston Love's "Chili Mac" and Preston Epps' "Afro-Mania," while the Sonny Constanzo Big Band's "New Beginning" sounds in places like a TV pit orchestra suddenly getting a whole lotta soul. [This U.K. import is not available for sale in North America.]
Living in the streets 2
According to the back cover, this compilation is designed as "another dip into the melting pot of early-'70s black music -- a time where Latin, jazz, soul, and funk mixed together and would eventually beget disco." It's a fair description of the contents, which are a real quilt of obscure soul-funk from the late '60s to the late '70s, concentrating most heavily on the earlier years of that span. A quick scan of the track list reveals just two names that might be known to even the reasonably knowledgeable R&B enthusiast, and those two artists, Joe Houston and Preston Epps, are far more identified with 1950s sounds than these much later (and surprisingly worthwhile) efforts. Anyway, it's an impressive compilation, not just for the high quality and wide diversity of the music, but also because this genre of music has been far less subject to obscurity anthologies than styles like 1960s Northern soul or 1950s rockabilly have. Katie Love's "Don't Let It Go to Your Head" is an uncanny Jackson 5 imitation; Brenda George's "I Can't Stand It" also has a Jackson 5 influence, but more of an earthy soul feel; Joe Houston's "Kicking Back" has cool "Shaft"-style guitars and snake-charming sax; Byrdie Green's "Return of the Prodigal Son" is ear-catching sullen soul, with compelling blues-soul riffs; Spanky Wilson's "Kissing My Love" puts good female vocals on top of percolating organ soul-jazz; and Preston Epps' previously unreleased "Africa" is invigorating Afro-percussive soul. Not every track is up to the level of these highlights, but they usually offer worthy combinations of straight soul with jazz, African music, and hard rock guitar (though not often all at once).
Living in the streets 3
The third volume of this unusual but very worthwhile series shows no signs of running out of steam in its excavation of obscure oddball goodies of the stranger manifestations of R&B in the late '60s and early '70s, and occasionally a bit later (one track on here's from 1979). one of the better tracks, the Generation's storming funk-rock "I'm a Good Woman," features lead vocals by a pre-Cold Blood Lydia Pense. But there's a lot of prime soul, funk, and jazz from the era, usually in collision with and feeding off each other (and sometimes borrowing from psychedelic rock), reflecting a wild era in which boundaries were falling all over the place. Most of the cuts are very good, and very few of the performers will be known to anyone but collectors, save the Fatback Band, jazzmen Charles McPherson (as accompanist to singer Pat Bowie) and Gary Bartz, and perhaps eccentric soul veteran King Hannibal aka the Mighty Hannibal. But some highlights to listen out for include a rare 1969 socially conscious funk B-side by Johnny King & the Fatback Band; the Mighty Tom Cats' 1973 cover of Manu Dibango's "Soul Makossa"; Tanya Winley's 1979 recording "Vicious Rap," regarded by some as one of the very first rap records, though its musical backing still owes a lot to funk; Jade's "Viva! (Viva Tirado)," a vocal version of the El Chicano hit; Gary Bartz's "I've Known Rivers," inspired by a Langston Hughes poem; Lorez Alexandria's 1968 torch-soul single "I'm Wishin'"; and Pat Bowie's "Feeling Good," a magnificently contained interpretation of this classic standard, and the earliest cut here, dating from 1965. Certainly this isn't the most stylistically consistent anthology out there, but that's not an issue when the music is this good, and the presentation and annotation so expert.
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