Funky 45's — All Formats  

A beautiful single from Bob & Gene on a funky 45 from Ever-Soul/Dapton ! "It's Not What You Know (It's Who You Know)" and "These Lonely Nights" are both apparantly from the Bob & Gene vaults, which gives us hope that there may be another album's worthy of great material that could pop up! The former kind off calls out social injustices in the lyricism, but it's a stripped down soul tune at it's core. "These Lonely Nights" is a nicely raw feel to it with great vocals and an insistent groove to it.

A sweet Jamaican-tinged take on this tune by Bob & Gene – one that features the duo's vocals set to grooves from the Inversions, a group led by Ticklah – all in a style that turns the soul track into a lost rocksteady number! The approach is mighty nice – strange at first, but really a grower – and the flip features a track that's basically the instrumental version of the vocal number!

Two great soul sides from Eddie & Ernie – heavy hitting work that's really beyond compare! "Bullets" was recorded in 1972, but never issued at the time – and is a tightly funky number with a really romping groove – one that seems to make the duo's vocals cook even more than usual, sending their message home with this really great blast of horns! "In These Very Tender Moments" is from five years earlier – a mellower cut, but one that still has this great slow funk groove – kind of a slo-mo drum part that makes for a very hip kick up from the bottom!

Tight-stepping soul from the well-named Hank "Soulman" Mullen – a great groover that moves at a Northern pace, but has a deeper soul feel overall! Hank's vocals are totally great – warm and raspy, almost in the best Memphis tradition – and the rhythms of the track are tightly vamping with some nicely skittish guitar and horns blasting over the top! "Listen" is great too – a mellower number with a great southern soul feel – like a lost gem from the far-reaches of the Muscle Shoals recording scene!

Massive work from Darrell Banks – two tracks from his rare album for Stax Records – both of them a perfect example of his unique talents! Banks was one of the deepest soul talents working on the Detroit scene of the 60s – a singer who could hit a motor city groove like the best of his contemporaries, but with raw vocal power that was much more at home alongside the best singers of the southern scene of the time. Both of these cuts show that balance beautifully – and come from some key Don Davis productions for Stax – almost the first step of that Memphis/Detroit bridge that Davis would forge even more strongly in the 70s.

A classic bit of Chicago soul! "Stone Good Lover" is a mellow number from Jo – a warm bit of deep soul with a really great feel. The track was a real underground classic, and it's still one of the best records ever from this vastly under-rated singer. "Urge" is an instrumental – strings and piano vamping nicely with the band!

One of the funkiest tunes we've ever heard from Charles Bradley – thanks to some killer drums on the intro, and this wild psychedelic guitar as well! These instruments set a perfect scene for Bradley to really let loose on "Stay Away" – with these blistering vocals that have a late 60s sort of deep soul energy – totally amazing, and pushing our respect for Bradley even further! The tune's a cover of a Nirvana tune – in case you didn't know it – and the flipside features a continued instrumental take on the groove!

Gene Chandler takes on James Brown – doing an amazing job with the Godfather's classic "There Was A Time" – served up at the same frenetic pace as the original! The tune's easily one of the hardest-grooving ever from Chandler, and really gets a new sort of spin from Gene's wonderful vocals too. "Those Were The Good Old Days" is a sweet Chicago swinger – done with that wicked rocking energy that you find in the best Brunswick soul of the time – an even better setting for the Chandler magic to unfold!

The Demures are totally great – a sweet female soul group, but one who work here with a solidly socking groove! "Raining Teardrops" may have a sad theme, but the rhythm's right up there with the best Chicago dancefloor soul of the late 60s – that romping style you'd hear most famously on Okeh or Brunswick records! Speaking of Brunswick, the Lost Generation fly on the flip – turning out one of our favorite Chicago soul tracks ever – the sublime "Sly Slick & The Wicked"!

Funky Lee Fields – burning stronger than ever these days, it seems! "You Don't Know" is a fierce-romping little track that starts with some cool guitar getting all wangly over snapping beats – setting up a hip mod groove before Lee comes in, and belts out a catchy lyric that almost takes us back to Lee Dorsey in the 60s! "Could Have Been" is a mellow deep soul track – really great, and delivered with a classic approach that shows that Lee's got a heck of a lot more to offer than just funky vocals!

One of the best versions of "Funky Four Corners" we've ever heard! The bass is rattling along at a level so loud and heavy that it's bound to pop the top off your speaker – while Jerry screams and shouts his way through the lyrics in a way that would make James Brown proud, a fact that he even acknowledges when he shouts "Sorry JB!" at one point in the cut! "Soul Lover" is fantastic too – a funky answer song to "Tramp", with a similar hard sock beat, and a hard break at the intro, which is augmented here by conga work! Both cuts are great – and one of the best singles ever by Jerry O!

One of Shorty's biggest tracks ever! "Function" is a perennial soul fave – as it's one of those cuts that lists a whole bunch of famous artists, attending some fictitious soul party! "Call On Me" is a sad, slow ballad – done with nice piano tinkling under Shorty's vocals, and a deeper soul sound than you might expect from his other work!

Steppers – call it! "The Man" is one of Johnny Lytle's best-ever tracks – and it's got this amazing stepping groove that has piano stringing out these dark catchy lines under Johnny's jazzed-up vibes, while organ comes in to wash the whole thing with soul on the chorus. "Big Bill" is more of the same, too – another monster instrumental from one of the real soul jazz geniuses of all time!

One of the coolest, grooviest tunes we've ever heard from Jimmy McCracklin – a cut that begins with this totally awesome "uh-huh" vocal chorus – but recorded in a very echoey space, so that it sounds almost out of this world! Jimmy's own lead vocals are tremendous too – and proof that he was definitely one of the founding forces of soul music!

Two tasty cuts by one of Chicago's best vocal groups ever! Both tracks were written by Leroy Hutson – and "Can This Be Real" was one of the group's bigger hits! Heavenly soul, and produced with a great sound.

Heavy funk, all the way through – a brilliant batch of cuts from The Original Black Sheep Of The Family – and one of the only true testaments we've ever seen to their obscure funky work! The set begins with the massive "In The Forest" – a wicked, wangly groove that features righteous vocals on part one – then really takes off instrumentally on part two – with more than enough energy to warrant spanning both sides of the single! "Heaven" is a wonderful cut – warmly bubbling with a bit of modern soul energy, but also coming across with a more deeply spiritual undercurrent too – a bit like the best balance you'd find on some of the Soul Cal reissues, but also a totally unique cut on its own! "Do You Wanna" is a cut with a cool complicated bassline at the start, almost fitfully making its way into some funkier rhythms – all handled by the group with the best late 70s ensemble funk modes!

One of the funkiest tunes ever from Clarence Reid – served up here with a Kenny Dope edit that kicks up the beats even more! The track does a great job of mixing southern soul with a harder, heavier groove – one that's got a famous vamp on the break – which is taken to extremes on the bonus beats on side two!

Early Philly soul from Bunny Sigler – two Leon Huff tracks served up perfectly by the singer! "Girl Don't Make Me Wait" has these hard vibes that soar along with the groove – a whirling frenzy that really seems to bring out some great harmonies as Sigler's lead mixes with the backing group! "Follow Your Heart" is a burner too – even better than the main track, with some of the most hard-edged vocals we've ever heard from Bunny!

2 of James Brown's best duets – on one original funky 45! "What My Baby Needs Now" is a sweet soul groove, with a nice swinging midtempo pace. "This Guy-Girl" is probably the most soulful version of the Bacharach track you'll ever hear! Both sides nice, and not on any album!

Some of the deepest soul ever to be cut in Chicago. "That's How It Is" has stunning vocals by Clay, with production that sounds more like it's from Memphis than from the south side. "Show Place" is a pretty good hard uptempo groover, too.

Two great ones from the glory days of the Flying Dutchman label! "Lady Day & John Coltrane" is not only one of the catchiest grooves that Gil Scott Heron ever recorded – it's a tremendous tribute to the redemptive power of jazz, underscored by a great jazzy sound as well! "See Saw Affair" is a standout from the one album ever cut by Cesar – a tune that's jazzy and funky, but with a lot of Latin elements too – and some great soul vocals by Linda Tillery!

A rare gem from the ABC run of soul singles in the 60s – and maybe the only thing we've ever heard from this sweet girl group! "Gonna Be A Big Thing" has a great groove, and a really positive vibe – one of those numbers that gets you out on the floor, then has you humming the catchy hook all week long! "Looky Looky" is a bit grittier, and a nice soulful stomper – and both cuts feature sparkling Jerry Ross production!