... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

An interesting single from James – featuring his super-huge hit of the mid 60s, but issued on a late 60s King label! The tune's a stone winner as always – and the flip is "mostly instrumental", with a vamp that virtually invented the funky vamp! 7-inch, Vinyl record

Alvin's in fine fine form here! Both tracks have a tight funky uptempo sound – with the usual bass-heavy grooves you'll find on Alvin's 60s work, plus raw shouted vocal bits in Alvin's standard "call and response" style. Both groovy! 7-inch, Vinyl record

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

Nice lost one! "Track Down" has a good choppy funk groove, with nice downbeats, weird spacey electronics, and an off-kilter horn finish. "Let's Put It Together" has more of an uptempo groove, with lots of choppy wah wah guitars – and a strong dancefloor groove! Both nice! 7-inch, Vinyl record

A wonderfully trippy bit of funk – a cut that begins with monkish vocals to suit the title, then moves into a sweet sitar line once the funky drums kick things up – moving at a slow-stepping groove as the sitar gives way to fuzzy guitar! "Medicine Bag" is nice and funky too – more massive drums, and this cool spooky psych-styled production – almost in a Stark Reality vein! 7-inch, Vinyl record

Otis sings James Brown – and with some great results! "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" is done live – with the kind of hard party groove that the track really deserves. "Direct Me" is a slow rolling Memphis number – an original by Steve Cropper and Otis, with the kind of bubbling soul groove that's all-Stax all the way through! 7-inch, Vinyl record

Groundbreaking early work from James! We're not sure when "Let Yourself Go" was released – but it's got these fantastic guitars on the beat, very much in the "Papa's Brand New Bag" or "Out Of Sight" mode, although a bit rawer and rootsier. Proof though, that James had a handle on funk as early as he wanted to! Great stuff – and one of those cuts that should be discovered a bit more! 7-inch, Vinyl record

Nice bit of Chicago funk, recorded during the big years of the "Here Come The Judge" routine – but in a bag all of it's own! Andre Williams wrote the cut, and it's got a great chugging funk groove with a vocal that features a crook pleading with the Funky Judge! The flip's an instrumental, too! 7-inch, Vinyl record

A funky holy grail – one of the rarest of the rare, and the only album ever cut by funky guitarist Carl "Sherlock" Holmes! Carl's work on the guitar is incredible – fast riffing and jazzy, with a style that's dirtier and messier than some of his 70s jazz funk contemporaries, but which also lays back on a few tracks so that Carl can deliver a sweetly soulful vocal. The album's a real blend of styles, all handled pretty darn well – and this special 2 x 7" single version features the best cuts – "It Ain't Right", "Black Bag", "Investigation", and "Think It Over". 7-inch, Vinyl record