The New Birth - It's Been a Long Time. 1973 RCA (LP). From the quarter bin at Independent (Nov). The New Birth were a band from Louisville, Kentucky that featured cool titles and interesting album covers. The genres attributed to The New Birth are funk and soul, though there's very little of the former - unfortunately. As such this is way too soulsy for my liking. The funky 'Keep On Doin' It' was the sole highlight of the eight tracks presented. Hard to knock it too much, as it may very well be a good album for the genre, but it's not something I'm going to sit still for a listen.
*Pleasure - Future Now. 1979 Fantasy (LP). I picked this one up online as a throw-in to another deal (Nov). I had found 'Joyous' at a thrift shop almost two years ago, and heard it a very good jazz funk album. 'Future Now' is later, but maybe even better. One would presume disco by this point, but Pleasure doubled down with some ripping hard guitar and a fine set of funky and fusion tunes. This is a band I need to keep exploring.
Faze-O - Riding High. 1977 She / Atlantic (LP). Thrift shop find (Oct). Solid funk / soul album with nods to disco but never really going there. Mostly party time music with 'Funky Reputation', 'Toe Jam', and especially 'Get Some Booty' (yea, OK, there's a term that didn't age well. Everything was "booty" in those days). Some whiny soul too. It definitely fits with the Earth Wind and Fire camp. Very good but no room left in the collection for albums like this.
Jiva - Something's Goin on Inside L.A. 1975 Dark Horse promo mono/stereo (SP). From RT (Sep). I don't know much about Jiva, but from what I've read, their sole album is a typical mid 70s soft rocker. If that's the case, then this track is truly an outlier. It's a hard funk song with some excellent guitar. But that would not have been uncommon in 1975. Odd choice for George Harrison's label regardless. I'd keep it if there was another side, but this is a radio promo with the same track.
Cissy Houston - Think it Over. 1978 Private Stock (LP). From Independent and it was free, can't beat that (Aug). Actually this is pretty good disco, a little bit above the norm. So who is Cissy Houston anyway? Turns out she's the mother of a one Whitney Houston (and aunt of the Warwick sisters), and she was 44 years old when this was released (only her third album). That's two Whoa's right there! It's rare for someone to break through at that age, especially back then. Obviously she lived through great tragedy because of her daughter.
War. 1971 United Artists (LP). Thrift shop find (Aug). In an earlier journal, I spoke of obtaining Deliver The Word, and how it crossed the threshold into keeper territory. I had high hopes for this earlier effort, but it fell flat to my ears. Mostly this is soul... funk music, with an obvious emphasis on the former. Which can be OK, if the melodies stick. But I'm afraid they didn't with me. The exception here is the album closer 'Fidel's Fantasy', which can only be categorized as weird. And there's a segment in the middle where Charles Miller's flute sounds almost Krautrock like. Lyrically they're going after Castro, which is refreshing during an era where there was too much sympathy for thugs like him. Sort of like today. Hmmm. Comes in a very fine gatefold, and my copy has the "war bond". This was inserted into early copies, and was good for "$1 off for 2 tickets" through Dec. 1973. That sounds trivial today, but concerts didn't used to cost so much, so $1 was a reasonable coupon.
The Blackbyrds. 1974 Fantasy (LP). From Independent (Aug). After researching it, I for certain thought this was going to be an easy keeper. All the ingredients are here. The name, of course, is a play on Donald Byrd, who was teaching at Howard University, the famous all black college in Washington DC (and where Lloyd McNeill also taught). Hence The Blackbyrds. Byrd writes about half the songs, and Larry Mizell is also lending a hand. Perhaps this will be a more funky version of Street Lady? Well, technically yes, but not so much to my liking. I've never been a big fan of "handclap funk" and constant references to "partay", but that's your openers on each side. Oddly, the more funky tracks here are written by Byrd in conjunction with a band member. I prefer Mizell's numbers, especially the instrumental 'Reggins', which is the highlight of the album. After two tries, my interest continued to wane. And considering the beautiful Van Gogh gatefold cover painting, it's a pity I have to let it go. But let it go I must.
Cymande. 1972 Janus promo (LP). Thrift shop find (Aug). Cymande's album cover looks dangerous, like we're in for some serious hard funk with a strong political message. It's something of the opposite. It's a very mellow and peace-loving album, with some excellent grooves. In particular I'm fond of the two longest tracks 'Rickshaw' and 'Dove'. Cymande is a London based group with a Caribbean heritage, and they don't have the edge that their American counterparts bring. What's missing here? Reggae. It's expected, and the band are playing around it, but specifically leaving out the distinctive rhythms. For their part, Cymande calls their music Nyah-Rock. Comes in a cool gatefold.
Cymande - Second Time Round. 1973 Janus promo (LP). Fortuitously found this with the other one (Aug). Whereas the debut's best cuts are in the middle, here they can be found on the bookends on 'Anthracite' and 'Them and Us'. Fairly similar to the debut, though this is a bit more song oriented, and I'm picking up a bit of Highlife here as well. This one gets further from my personal tastes.
* x-Freddi and Henchi - Moonlightin' / Mr. Funky. 1974 Reprise (SP). These two tracks fall to the heavier side of the funk / soul spectrum. Some nice horns and fat beats. All the same, it's too vocal oriented to keep me engaged for long. And there's a bit of silliness like Funkadelic / Jimmy Castor Bunch - especially the B side. Fairly obscure single. Looks like they're from up the road in Denver! These two songs are not on their sole LP. I'll keep it for the local angle. (Jul)
* - Keeping for the collection; x - not in RYM
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