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by Cousin Geoff
I picked up the latest issue of Waxpoetics today, came home and read it pretty much cover to cover, so I was in a different sort of frame of mind tonight. Reading that makes you want to reach a little further. Suddenly, the common stuff doesn’t sound appealing at all. Not really even James Brown, which seems to always satisfy something. You read about a boogie-funk DJ from California and get a glimpse of his collection and the mind behind assembling a collection like that, and you realize how far you can take record collecting.
The problem for me and Justin is we have to make money. That’s why the majority of stuff that we come across that is super rare tends to end up being sold, landing in collections that I read about and envy. But, you know, every now and then we take a few good ones home for our own personal collections. But like Max alluded to in a previous post, there’s just so much music that most records I take home I give a quick one-sided listen to and file away.
So tonight, after reading WP, I really wanted to dig deep. I went through my rows and crates and pulled out about a dozen or so fairly obscure records that I hadn’t listened to in a while and lined them up next to the turntable, laptop ready to record. I had such a strong craving for exactly the sound I wanted that most of them didn’t get very far. I came close to writing about Tower of Power’s first record on the tiny San Francisco record label, but the one record that beat them all was The Spirit of Atlanta’s LP “The Burning of Atlanta”, released in 1973 on the Buddah label.
Produced by legendary composer/producer/arranger Thomas Stewart and backed by a ton of Atlanta session players, “Burning” is just an all-out assualt of the funk senses. It’s a grand orchestra of high energy soul.
listen to Freddie’s Alive and Well:
By Cousin Geoff
Aaron Timlin, executive director of CAID, is planning a 192 hour dance-in to protest the unnecessary force Detroit Police used to break up a recent after-hours funk dance party. John Sinclair would be proud.
A dance protest seems like no big deal, except that the Detroit Police told them that they needed a permit to dance, and this was one of the things they got ticketed for. Timlin was quoted in the above mention freep article saying, “We’re standing up for what we believe in. We’d prefer that the police come dance with us.” Translation: screw you and your laws, we’re dancing, come and stop us. Totally a page from Sinclair, who once stated that authority figures have no right infringing on the people’s consciousness.
This has gotten a huge amount of attention, with the freep spinning it in favor of Timlin and those who were ticketed at the party. The comments section on both articles in the freep have a ton of responses, with people taking both sides. My initial reaction was that this was totally uncalled for, but now I am starting to see it from the DPD’s perspective. If the police gave the art establishment a fair warning in advance, and they still broke the law, they had every right to crack down - just maybe not with so much force and intensity.
But let’s break this down a bit further. Had this been a mostly black party or a gay club illegally serving alcohol after hours, would there have been this much fuss made? Or did the police treat these white suburbanite hipsters like they would anyone else?
I am very interested in seeing how the police respond to this act of civil disobedience. Do they let ’em dance, or will they show these hipsters who runs things in Detroit?
Maybe Timlin should hand this 45 to the DJ and see where it takes everything:
by Cousin Geoff
Hamilton Bohannon moved to Detroit in the 60s after Stevie Wonder hired him to be his drummer. After splitting from Stevie, he capitalized on his bandleading abilites and signed onto Dakar. Bohannon then put out some incredibly funky dance records in the early to mid 70s, among them this LP titled “Insides Out”.
This was one of the leftovers that I snatched up after it didn’t sell at auction, mainly because it’s on a crazy Korean bootleg label, like the rest of them were (I also took home a Korean pressing of Maggot Brain, so ghetto that it was listed as Funk Adelic on the typewritten label, and filled with misspellings and botched song titles). But I’ll take this copy of Insides Out until I can upgrade, because it’s a fun, funky, groovy record. I put it on for the first time while hanging out with my 6 month old daughter, and she bounced and squealed in her Johnny Jump-Up as I played the djembe while the record blasted. My wife was out so we jammed on and on. And that is what Bohannon does on this record, he picks up a groove, lays it down and just keeps it going.
He’s joined by fellow Detroiters LeRoy Emmanuel and Mose Davis of The Counts. The first side is like one big all-nighter, while the b-side is much more mellow, mostly love songs. It’s worth it to seek out this album for the a-side though, and you’ll see easily see the inspiration for modern electronic music. When you’ve got the funk and you’re holding it down, why let go?
Check out Foot-Stompin’ Music (about half of the 7:00 min. + track):
by Max Conroy
If you refer to my post about the jazz flute, you know that I’m just getting into soul/funk-jazz/fusion. I’m crazy about the stuff. It’s also allowed my formerly tepid interest in hip-hip to expand slightly. It’s like punk rock for me; not the music of course but how I view it. Some of my favorite music, proto-punk, is the music that led directly to the development of punk rock, but I really don’t like straight punk all that much. I love the Dead Boys and the Sex Pistols, but both bands were badass rock and roll acts before they were punk. I love all of this music that’s been sampled a ton or could be sampled if it hasn’t but can take or leave the hip-hop that’s made it famous, so far at least. As my obsession has grown for the (I’ll call it fusion, to incorporate soul/funk-jazz) fusion over the past few weeks, I’ve purchased a shit ton of great records and thank God some of it can be found cheaply.
I’d heard of the Ramsey Lewis Trio, but that was probably from hearing them mentioned by NPR DJs a split second, before I slammed the radio off in disgust before my appreciation of fusion. I totally thought that they were venerated by jazzbos and that they were classic bop, but how wrong I was. Justin hooked me up with a rough copy of the In Crowd, which is apparently an early soul-jazz classic. After digging the album, I also noticed that reissues of it are advertized in Waxpoetics, and have noticed the record at numerous shops and online. I thought that the record would be pricey, but since it obviously sold well for a jazz record and was on Chess’ Argo imprint, it’s insanely cheap. Like you would pay three times what an OG copy would cost to get the reissue. Dig the ‘In’ Crowd…
I also recently picked up Ramsey Lewis’ Sun Goddess for cheap. The cover alone is worth the money, but the music could have been sold in a paper bag and it’d still be sweet. It’s ten years after the In Crowd and the funk had dropped in the meantime, and it’s obvious on this record, that Lewis was hip to it. Check out Sun Goddess, Livin’ For the City (the S. Wonder jam) and Jungle Strut…
On the Blue side of things; some Blue Note records from the periphery of their dark days can be got fairly cheaply too. Some of these records sold very well, which makes them easy to find and cheap, but not bad at all. For instance, Donald Byrd’s Black Byrd (the best selling record in the entire Blue Note catalogue) and Byrd’s Best are about $10 records; the cover of Black Byrd, depicting a black wedding or hoedown of some sort, ca. 1890 is worth it, and the music’s funky as can be, slightly dated, but that’s a large part of the appeal for me. I recently acquired Grant Green’s Alive! album, which is a live gig recorded in a small club with Idris Muhammad tearing the place up on drums, for $10. I’m not as much of a purist as the Cousins and will pick up a reissue or a comp here and there, and found a Grant Green record that was part of the Blue Note Breakbeats series for under $10. Sometimes on these records, as with every record, there are bum tracks, but it seems more common for jazz records to me, so a comp with six of the most notable tracks by someone can be a good thing. But I don’t necessarily think that’s true for Grant Green; I’m willing to bet that anything he did in ‘70 and ‘71 with Idris Muhammad on drums is good throughout. Ronnie Laws‘ Pressure Sensitive must have also sold a shitload because it’s everywhere and it’s cheap. One of my dad’s buddies gave me his record collection when I was about fifteen. There were about fifty or so records, all early 70s stoner rock…and Pressure Sensitive. It’s like the fusion Frampton Comes Alive, but way cooler. Here are Grant Green’s Sookie Sookie (the Don Covay song) and Ronnie Laws’ Nothing to Lose…
by Max Conroy:
It doesn’t sound like it’d be all that great, hanging out at an Elks lodge on a Friday night, but it’s not at all what you’d expect. This place is sweet, positively the coolest bar, club, venue, night spot I’ve been to since I’ve moved to Ann Arbor. There may be better places to go in this area, but I can’t imagine it.
My friend rents a huge house from the Elks. It’s on a hill overlooking the city; it’s large, seemingly affordable, and right next to the lodge. We ate dinner at her place and had a few beers, we’d already been at the Old Town for a good number of rounds, and she proposed that we should go the Elks for a beer. I was down. I mean shooting the shit with a bunch of older dudes in funny hats sounds like a good time to me, but I was not prepared for this place.
It’s an old school black Elks lodge, patronized by a bunch of real nice fun loving, soulful dudes. The bar is downstairs and the rules for the guests are posted on a huge sign on the ceiling of the stairway as you enter, gents must remove their hats upon entering. I guess it’s a three dollar cover, but we got by because we know their tenant. The ambiance of the place is enough to make it a cool spot: salmon colored walls, orange vinyl booths, a dark cavernous feel, a vintage bar, and a cozy dance floor packed with hipsters. Heinekens are three bucks and the DJ spins old and new soul, funk and hip hop; it was great to hear Sharon Jones’ What Have You Done for Me Lately blaring through the place followed by James Brown’s Sex Machine. It’s a shame that I don’t dance or if I do I have to be in a state where I can’t possibly remember it. I held down the booth and sipped my Heineken while my people hit the dance floor, digging the scene, choking on smoke, loving watching the Elks get down, hanging out and serving drinks. As we left, they were closing the doors presumably because the place was to capacity, so get there before one AM. I’ll definitely be coming back to this place.
The Elk’s lodge also has live jazz on Mondays and Tuesdays and is open to the public on Fridays and Saturdays to swing from the rafters. I also believe that they host barbecues, which I’d love to check out.
Cousin Justin posted a nice selection of old school rap LPs and 12″s.
Included is Run DMC’s first, self titled LP:
From All Music:
Prior to this, rap felt like a block party — the beats were funky and elastic, all about the groove. Run-D.M.C. hit hard. The production is tough and minimal, built on relentless drum machines and Jam Master Jay’s furious scratching, mixing in a guitar riff or a keyboard hit on occasion. It is brutal urban music, and Run and D.M.C.’s forceful, muscular rhymes match the music. Where other MCs sounded cheerful, Run and D.M.C. prowl and taunt the listener, sounding as if they were a street gang. And while much of the record is devoted to braggadocio, boasting, and block parties, Run-D.M.C. also addressed grittier realities of urban life, giving this record both context and thematic weight. All of this — the music, the attitude, the words, the themes — marked a turning point for rap, and it’s impossible to calculate Run-D.M.C.’s influence on all that came afterward. Years later, some of the production may sound a bit of its time, but the music itself does not because music this powerful and original always retains its impact and force as music.
Check out the rest of the All Music review on this LP and listen some audio clips.
There’s also Lord Finesse and DJ Smooth, Funky Technician:
Both Justin and I have heard this played a lot on Sirius on XM - it’s definitely a classic among classics. From All Music:
It’s a simple formula: bring together one of the East Coast’s finest rappers with some of the most clever trackmasters in hip-hop, then add in a stellar DJ, and the results are bound to be exciting. Funky Technician was just that, an excellent LP of battle rap with Lord Finesse simultaneously claiming and proving his immense skills over a set of funky backing tracks that used the familiar James Brown blueprint but delivered it with unobtrusive class and innumerable displays of deft turntable wizardry. read the rest of this review and listen to some audio clips
Justin is getting ready to release an absolute monster batch of old school rap LPs and 12″s. Look for them to go up today or Monday. Some really rare stuff will be in there.
****JUST LISTED****
CRAZY CRAZY CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We’ve never had a batch of old school hip hop like this, EVER. Included is some extremely rare Detroit old school, private pressings, test pressings, rare versions, funky, booty, soul, an absolute DJ’s treasure. Some of these I know we’ll never come across again.
And all this came as I’ve really been into XM’s Channel 65 The Rhyme, which is classic and old school hip hop. I was pretty much drooling over the collection, as was Justin, but we did our best to restrain ourselves as we’ve dumped a little bit of cash to aquire this. The whole collection came from an old Detroit DJ and producer, who brought it in little by little over the past week. Justin has been listing like crazy - I think there are close to 500 listings.
God bless him, Cousins Justin worked his ass off and put up almost 400 45s off a collection he bought recently. A real solid batch, it features soul to modern soul in real nice condition. Here are some that intersted me on first glance:
This just looks sweet. It’s on Bang - Justin claims it kicks ass.
Billy Lamont - Girls Girls Girl/Shake and Jerk
This cool janitor I used to work with used to ask me all the time if we had any Willie Hutch. I wan’t hip to Willie Hutch, but I figured he must be sweet with a name like Willie Hutch. This title has to be good.
Willie Hutch - What You Going To Do After The Part
Bill Withers, on Sussex, one of my favorite labels. Sussex put out some great stuff - catchy funk and soul. Lean On Me is one of those songs you just gotta have.
Justin, is this any good? I’m extremely interested - on a Detroit label I’ve never seen, last name the same as mine, great title.
This looks really promising.
Jimmy Delphs - Do You Know What I Mean
So does this.
Well, I’m going to stop here. But I encourage you to go exploring because there’s a ton more cool Detroit stuff and a bunch more classic mod soul and other more obscure hidden gems. This is a much better batch than I realized. I gave Justin this lead and he sounded kind of excited but not like jumping out of his pants or anything after he bought the collection. After looking this over, it’s good. The condition is excellent too. If you’re hunting, browse around and take some chances here - I think you’ll get some good deals. We don’t really know what’s what - like always, it just goes off starting at $7.50.
Why go to the flea market when you can dig right here?
Mention this promotion by Oct. 7th to Justin and get free flat rate shipping on your next order (unlimited records). US customers only. Email him at cousins AT cousinsvinyl DOT com, subject SUNDAY DIGGING PROMO. If you’re not a funk/soul/R&B fan, check out our store for more genres, which also apply.
This is an example of a record so obscure that putting it up for sale without an audio sample would be a waste. This 1981 modern soul two song 12″ is on the Boston Heights label, which probably was created by the group and might have been the only songs recorded by the label and musicians. I found no info on it, except a website from Denmark that archived obscure labels, and they simply listed that it existed.
Does that make it valuable? I’m not sure. I don’t think it’s that great - but I’m not a modern soul DJ from Europe. It is odd enough that it might draw some interest. The A side has a strange grouping of strings and is kind of a tender love ballad. The B side is just as strange, but is more up-tempo and funky. It’s probably something we’ll never see again - and I doubt that there’s many more out there. We have two copies - one that is in VG++ condition and another in VG.
Click here to view ebay listing.
to “Be My Love”
listen to “I Wanna Love Ya”
We couldn’t find much info on this record, Detroit’s B-Boy Krush & Power, Turn Up The Music/Gossip Box on Northern Records, circa 1986? But could this be the family of Detroit soul legend Johnny Mae Matthews?
We did find the music easy to turn up, as it suggests. This is flat out dope 80s Detroit old school rap. But something curious to note came up when I looked closer at the label. The B Side credit is given to Johnny Mae Matthews as well as the co-production credits; there was a 60s Detroit soul artist by the same name, could they be of relation? Maybe this is his family - his sons. The record is produced by Terrance Matthews, presumably B-Boy Krush’s (Vernon Matthews) brother. The A Side, Turn Up The Music, is credited to Vernard and Terrance Matthews. It’s very possible that the original Johnny Mae Matthews is the father of this family rap camp, and if anyone knows any more info please inform.
The music itself reminds of me of a raw, earlier Young MC, with boasting lyrics and clear, quick rhymes. The homemade beat is simple with a sweet funk hook, and features talented scratching by the DJ. This is something I could see a young Kid Rock spinning in a Detroit basement party in the 80s.
Listen to Turn Up The Music .
Check the eBay listing HERE.
This is what I would throw in it on my way to work:
1) Taj Mahal, Mo’ Roots
My favorite Taj Mahal album, it’s a masterful blend of reggae and southern roots music. Clara (St. Kitts Woman) is going in my next mix tape after Akido’s Yesterday http://cousinsvinyl.com/2006/akido-self-titled-mercury-lp-1972-afro-funk/. A great Friday morning selection.
2) Jah Bunny, Dubs International
Such a sweet dub album. All the songs are well put together, and not as echoey and crazy as Lee Perry. Makes for great late-night cruisin’ music. Also good for a passenger friend who just needs to chill out.
3) Various, Electric Breakdance: The Hottest Breakdance Music On The Street
Awe yeah! This is my pimpin’ music! 1984’s freshest breakdance joints. Need to shop here to listen to this www.myairshoes.com Too bad I can’t put the poster that comes with it on the side of car.
4) T Rex, Electric Warrier
“Beneath the bebop moon, I want to crooooon, with you, Beneath the Mambo Sun, I got to be the one, with you…” Impossible not to turn this up.
5) Mel Brown, Eighteen Pounds Of Unclean Chitlins and Other Greasy Blues Specialties
Yeah, it’s what you would expect. Mmmm, mmmm!
6) Marvin Holmes and the Uptights, Ooh Ooh The Dragon and Other Monsters
Sweet happy funk. Has one of my all time favorite songs, I’ve Never Found A Girl (To Love Me Like You Do). The back cover describes this album as being as funky as barrrels of hot asphalt. This is being played as loud as my speakers will let them. I hope I don’t get a speeding ticket with this on.
UNDER THE SEAT: Wes Montgomery, Full House
OK, this is cheating a bit. But I gotta keep this in reserve in case I feel the need for some relaxed jazz cruising. This early Riverside is one of my favorite jazz LPs.
I think I’d put in a new rotation after about a solid two weeks. Better not do any off-roading though.
-Cousin Geoff
RA: Resident Advisor - Sounding Off: Why vinyl can’t survive
This guy’s dead wrong, frankly, but the ILXers do a better job of putting him to rights than I would.
jsREVIEW:
The first thing to do: Turn up your bass.
Now turn it up again.
This is a sexy, funky, bassy, sticky, strutting, fucking album.
“They say I’m nasty, they say I’m wild… Say you will, say you will..” Davis sings on “If I’m In Luck You Might Pick Me Up,” the album’s opener. Davis was nasty, was wild, to the point where religious groups picketted her shows. While she’s rarely overtly raunchy, especially by today’s standards, the permeating sexuality that oozes from her Tina Turner growls and the sparse, punchy basslines would make Bill Clinton blush, and would still earn her brickbats if any of the Religious Right were listening.
By the time this self-titled debut came out, Davis had already had songs written about her (the “Mademoiselle Mabry” of then-husband Miles’ Filles De Kilimanjaro), and was credited with introducing Miles to the music of Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone, leading to his dark funk rebirth.
Miles would divorce her because she was too wild and too sexy, and on “Anti-Love Songs,” the throbbing bass underscores this perception. Davis isn’t gonna love you because she’d fuck you so hard you’d break, and on “Your Man, My Man,” she’s more dangerous than Me’Shell NdegéOcello ever dreamed of being.
It’s not just Betty on this either, as she’s backed by the very best and funkiest musicians of the time: Larry Graham (bass) and Greg Errico (drums) of the Family Stone, The Pointer Sisters sing backup, Doug Rodrigues an Neal Shon of Santana’s band, classic sessioners like Merl Saunders and Hershall Kennedy make this the Avengers of funk and are the best band since Motown’s Funk Brothers.
This is the Just Sunshine Records first pressing, making this a bit rarer than the usual Vinyl Experience or MPC pressings, and if the rest of Cousins Vinyl would let me, this’d be mine. It’s almost a tearful parting, putting it up for sale, but goddamn… Just give it a good home, OK? Put it on any time you need to fill the floor or have the dirtiest sex of your life.
