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2 funky numbers by Pigmeat! "Here Comes The Judge" is a great take on the famous routine – with some tight Gene Barge backings that start with some great drum bits, as Pigmeat calls out the routine between the funky grooves! "The Trial" is straight comedy, with no music – but still nice.

Pigmeat's recorded here before a very lively crowd at the Apollo Theater, and even though it's 1969, they still seem to go crazy on his many variations of older styles of routines. Lots of audience interaction – and titles include "Two Dollar Spit", "The Judge & The Dressmaker", "Four Door Hotel", and "The Last Mile".

The 2 fantastic albums Shorty Long cut for Soul/Motown – '68's funky Here Comes The Judge & '69's soulful Prime Of Shorty Long – a perfect pair, put together with 2 bonus tracks and great notes by the rare soul-reverent heroes at Kent UK! The CD kicks off with the Here Come The Judge – a fantastic album of funky soul – actually only one of two albums he cut – and the only one that was issued before his untimely early death – a killer batch of tracks that mix together funk, Detroit soul, and a great sense of humor! The album kicks off with Shorty's hit single "Here Comes The Judge", a funky musical version of the "judge" routine that had been knocking around the Chittlin Circuit comedy scene for years, particularly in the work of Pigmeat Markham. The album also features Shorty's legendary "soul party" cut, "Function At The Junction", plus lots of other tasty numbers like "Night Fo Last" (done in vocal and instrumental versions)", "Here Comes Fat Albert", "Stranded In the Jungle", "Don't Mess With My Weekend", "Ain't No Justice", and "Sing What You Wanna". The Prime Of Shorty Long is a beautiful album from Shorty – issued shortly after his early death from drowning at the age of 29 – and an amazing document of the mighty soul powers he would have had in years to come! There's a depth here that Shorty never had before – a sense of power and righteousness that comes through not just in the vocals, but in the construction of the songs as well – very tight, with a musical vision that shows a sense of pride and power that was never present in Long's earlier singles. Paul Riser handled the arrangements, in a way that really illustrates that cresting Motown intensity at the start of the 70s – and titles include "Whiter Shade Of Pale", "Baby Come Home To Me", "When You Are Available", "The Deacon Work", "Give Me Some Air", "I Had A Dream", and "I Wish You Were Here". CD also features 2 bonus tracks – "Mobile Lil The Dancing Witch" (previously unissued stereo mix) and "Chantilly Lace" (previously unissued stereo alternative version).

A fantastic album of funky soul – and Shorty's greatest album! Well, it's actually only one of two albums he cut – and the only one that was issued before his untimely early death – but it's a killer batch of tracks that mix together funk, Detroit soul, and a great sense of humor! The album kicks off with Shorty's hit single "Here Comes The Judge", a funky musical version of the "judge" routine that had been knocking around the Chittlin Circuit comedy scene for years, particularly in the work of Pigmeat Markham. The album also features Shorty's legendary "soul party" cut, "Function At The Junction", plus lots of other tasty numbers like "Night Fo Last" (done in vocal and instrumental versions)", "Here Comes Fat Albert", "Stranded In the Jungle", "Don't Mess With My Weekend", "Ain't No Justice", and "Sing What You Wanna". Great stuff – and a pretty tough album to find!

The funky foundations of rap – and one of the best, most focused compilations of its kind we've ever stocked! You can truthfully call the treasure trove of funk singles here "pre-rap". Every track is a direct precursor. We mean that on the vocal tip – and also for the heavy funk bass and drums on the bottom end. We've seen some similar sets that go back to the 50s and even earlier – with jump jivin' R&B that originally planted the seeds – but this one focuses squarely on the late 60s and 70s material that most directly fertilized all rap to come! It also largely eschews the righteous and political precursors of the Last Poets and Gil Scott-Heron school, for party funk proto rappers such as Pigmeat Markam, Bill "Butter Ball" Crane, Blowfly and others – but there's some socially aware cuts here, too. Great stuff with a just a couple of well-known numbers and many more funky rarities! 16 in all: "We Got The Number" by Pigmeat Markham, "Butterballs" by Butterball, "Get On The Good Foot" by James Brown, "Sesame Street" by Blowfly, "Smoke My Pipe" by AJ Rowe, "Snake Hips" by Timmy Rogers, "Everybody Says" by Billy Dee & Sugar Bear, "Do You Have A Good Woman" by Rufus Beacham and more.

The funky foundations of rap – and one of the best, most focused compilations of its kind we've ever stocked! You can truthfully call the treasure trove of funk singles here "pre-rap". Every track is a direct precursor. We mean that on the vocal tip – and also for the heavy funk bass and drums on the bottom end. We've seen some similar sets that go back to the 50s and even earlier – with jump jivin' R&B that originally planted the seeds – but this one focuses squarely on the late 60s and 70s material that most directly fertilized all rap to come! It also largely eschews the righteous and political precursors of the Last Poets and Gil Scott-Heron school, for party funk proto rappers such as Pigmeat Markam, Bill "Butter Ball" Crane, Blowfly and others – but there's some socially aware cuts here, too. Great stuff with a just a couple of well-known numbers and many more funky rarities! 16 in all: "We Got The Number" by Pigmeat Markham, "Butterballs" by Butterball, "Get On The Good Foot" by James Brown, "Sesame Street" by Blowfly, "Smoke My Pipe" by AJ Rowe, "Snake Hips" by Timmy Rogers, "Everybody Says" by Billy Dee & Sugar Bear, "Do You Have A Good Woman" by Rufus Beacham and more.

Compilation put together by the GRT label in the mid 70s, who owned the chess/cadet group of labels, so it's heavy on the Chicago sound. There's a few cuts from ABC records too, like the Impressions "It's All Right" and Bobby Bland's "Turn On Your Love Light", but basically the track listing reads like the playlist from WVON or WBEE from the early 70s, loads of heavy hitting South Side R&B and soul numbers: the Dells "Stay In My Corner", Gene Chandler "I Fooled You This Time", Fontella Bass "Rescue Me", Pigmeat Markham "Here Comes the Judge" and Ramsey Lewis' "Wade in the Water" and 18 more!