John Tropea - To Touch You Again. 1979 Marlin (LP). Tropea first came to my attention as the guitarist who laid down those fiery solos on the early (American) Deodato albums. It was my hope he'd do similar here. The album opens up promisingly enough with a wonderful guitar tone and a serious disposition. But it quickly devolves into the jazz funk tropes (Freudian slip) of the day. A2 is more of what I'd hope. Sort a breezy latin jazz rock number, great for a summer day. A3 is a bad Melanie cover and A4 sounds almost exactly like George Benson at this stage. The album continues in this manner for the duration, and Tropea never lets loose. Pity that. Harmless 35 minute record that accomplishes little. Not for me, but I'll continue to seek out his other titles if at a quarter a piece. (4/28)
Messengers Incorporated - Soulful Proclamation (1972). My first encounter with this band from Oklahoma City was through the Midwest Funk 45 compilation CD. The exception to the all-45 compilation was the title track from this album. I honestly don't recall my initial response to the track itself, but it's likely to have fallen toward to the bottom of that comp. It's mostly soul, with funk as the secondary genre. That's how this super rare album opens (reissued plenty though). The second track is an instrumental gem, mixing in psych with the funk, one of my favorite combinations. A3 is the soul standard 'Ain't No Mountain Higher' with an inventive arrangement. A4 is a sleepy soul number. Bill Withers with a couple of drinks in him I'd submit. A5 is more energetic bringing back the female vocals (they're mixed throughout). Features a nice jazzy mid section with sax in the lead. The B side is similar in construct, adding in some gospel even. This time the group covers that Beatles chestnut 'Eleanor Rigby', a very good and creative rendition. Album closes with a high energy and positive jazzy rock instrumental. Other than a couple of exceptions noted above, not really hearing why this album has the rep among the collecting community. Acknowledging that it's legitimately rare, and hard to find. Pretty standard soul fare here. (3/8)
*Pleasure - Joyous. 1977 Fantasy (LP). When I first heard this LP (acquired from a thrift shop) in 2019, I had no foundation for the music or the group. Seven years later and many funk, soul, and disco albums have rolled through here. Including a later Pleasure album that I spoke highly of. I thought this revisit would provide clarity, since I didn't take notes from the first listen. Not really. The album has mixed reviews and it's easy to see why. Everyone agrees that the opener is great. It's a mixture of jazz, funk, heavy psych, and disco. Would have loved to hear Marion McLain unleash more of his inner Ernie Isley. A2 is a commercial soul influenced track, but it's nice. A3 and B2 are too schmaltzy for my tastes, however. A4 is a pretty decent funk track whereas B3 is similar but weaker in that par-tay sort of style. B1 and B4 are instrumentals. The former has wordless vocals and goes a bit long but is still enjoyable on the whole. The closer is more towards soft jazz and is an excellent ending. The album is fairly scarce, and I'm not sure I'm ready to part with it. So I won't. Once I get more Pleasure albums in the door, I'll build out a page and then decide what to keep. They were from Portland, Oregon. (2/17)
* - Keeping for the collection
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