2026 Funk / Soul Journal Vol. 1

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. They were from Portland, Oregon. After some deliberation, I've decided to downsize the record. (2/17)

2021 Funk / Soul Journal Vol. 5 - Complete

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. 

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. 

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