"Horn Rock & Funky Guitar Grooves 1968-1974" by VARIOUS (26 July 2019 Ace/BGP CD Compilation - Nick Robbins Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Toe Hold..."

I love a compilation like this - clever choices - great sound - discoveries. I'll even forgive the rather uninspiring artwork because those sexy bearded men with non-arthritic knees and disturbingly alluring butt wiggles over at Ace Records (using their Beat Goes Public label imprint) have only gone and done my nut it again.

This is a wickedly good single CD vaults-trawl that even sports an unissued nugget from Texan Donnie Brooks very much in the early Blood, Sweat & Tears vs. Chicago vein and a no-one knows-nothing-about recording from Frank Slay’s Claridge Records that deserves its day in the sun. There's a lot of Soulful Rock and horny horns to wade through here, so let's get at it my Funkalicious admirers...

UK released 26 July 2019 - "Horn Rock & Funky Grooves 1968-1974" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace Records/BGP CDBGPD 311 (Barcode 029667094825) is a 17-Track CD Compilation of Remasters that plays out as follows (66:01 minutes):

1. Buddy's Advice - PAUL BUTTERFIELD BLUES BAND (fifth studio album "Keep On Moving" from October 1969 (USA) on Elektra EKS 74053 - Buzzy Feiten song)

2. Toe Hold - AL KOOPER (from his debut solo album "I Stand Alone" from February 1969 on Columbia CS 9718)

3. It's Been A Long Time Coming - DELANEY & BONNIE (May 1968 US 7" single on Stax STA-0003, later issued on their debut album "Home" released August 1969 on Stax STS-2026 (USA) and March 1970 (UK) on Stax SXATS 1029)

4. Understanding - COLD BLOOD [featuring Lydia Pense] (from their December 1970 second album "Sisyphus" on Atlantic/San Francisco SD 205)

5. One Fine Morning (LP Version) - LIGHTHOUSE (fourth studio album "One Fine Morning" released July 1971 (USA) on Evolution Records 3007 and October 1971 (UK) on Vertigo 6342 010)

6. Roller Coaster - BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS (September 1973 US 7" single on Columbia 4-45937, A-side - also on the August 1973 sixth US LP "No Sweat" on Columbia KC 32180 and CBS Records 65275 (UK))

7. Clever Girl - TOWER OF POWER (from their May 1973 US Debut LP "Tower Of Power" on Warner Brothers BS 2681)

8. Blow Your Mind - DONNIE BROOKS (Previously Unissued 1970 Recording, 2019)

9. Run Back To Mama - CHASE [featuring Bill Chase] (from their April 1974 third album "Pure Music" on Epic KE 32572)

10. Tuane - HAMMER (from their November 1970 debut album "Hammer" on Atlantic/San Francisco SD 203)

11. Somebody Oughta' Turn Your Head Around - CRYSTAL MANSION (from their August 1972 US LP "Crystal Mansion" on Rare Earth R 540L)

12. Clown (Part 1) - THE FLOCK (September 1969 edited into two parts FRENCH 7” single on CBS 6965 (A-side is 3:15 minutes) – also part of the full "Clown" track on their debut album "The Flock" issued September 1969 in the USA on Columbia Records CS 9911 (Stereo) and April 1970 in the UK on CBS Records S 63733)

13. Gypsy Boy II - TOBIAS WOOD HENDERSON (from the 1971 album "Blue Stone" on Pulsar Records 10605)

14. Shoes - BLACK MAGIC (Previously Unissued Claridge Records recording, 2019)

15. Make Your Move - THE ELECTRIC FLAG (from the 1974 LP "The Band Kept Playing" on Atlantic SD 18112)

16. Boomp, Boomp, Chomp - THE SONS (from their November 1969 second album on Capitol Records SKAO-332 called "The Sons" – The Sons Of Champlin (featuring Bill Champlin) now credited as The Sons)

17. Aunt Marie - AMERICAN SOUND LTD (1968 US 7" single on Pearce 5841, A-side)

The 20-page booklet features track-by-track info on the 17 cuts by noted writer and Soul/Funk expert DEAN RUDLAND. As ever his knowledge comes shining through and does his level-headed appraisal - the text peppered with shots of album sleeves you rarely ever lay eyes on (Butterfield, Tower Of Power and Lighthouse getting a colour page each) and a couple of tasty US 45s on Stax and Columbia (Delaney & Bonnie and Al Kooper). Audio is care of Ace's long-standing sound-man NICK ROBBINS and given that 95% of it comes from major labels - each track is ballsy and full - proper power when the brass comes brandy-glass rattling into your living room.

Written & Arranged by Buzzy Feiten and Produced by songsmith and all-round catalyst Jerry Ragovoy - the track selection opens strongly with "Buddy's Advice" - Paul Butterfield smart enough to know that the Blues-Rock medium was already too limiting by 1969 - so for album number five, he Funks it up and Soul sympathiser Ragovoy delivers the audio wallop. You're then nailed with a Stateside threesome - ex Blood, Sweat & Tears Al Kooper, Eric Clapton, George Harrison and Leon Russell pals Delaney & Bonnie Bramlett and the truly fantastic Cold Blood sporting the gutteral layrinx of Lydia Pense - a woman who might worry Janis Joplin, Maggie Bell and Elkie Brooks (in that order). Kooper's cover of the Isaac Hayes and David Porter penned "Toe Hold" (previously done by Sam & Dave, Johnnie Taylor and Sharon Tandy) is a smart choice. The backing band that can swing is Dylan's "Blonde On Blonde" troupe, the arrangements are by Jazz Trumpeter Don Ellis (cutting a rug over on Charles Taylor's CTI Records at the same time) and backing vocalists The Blossoms giving it the girl power the Soulful cut needs. Cold Blood have always been a lust of mine - their cover of Donny Hathaway's "Valdez In The Country" surely a contender for Volume 2.

Lighthouse even got their fourth album "One Fine Morning" a Blighty release on Vertigo Records in October 1971 hoping to mimic their home country Canadian success of No. 2 (on GRT Records) and a more modest No. 80 on the US LP charts (Evolution Records). But probably because the black-and-white swirl record company was perceived as a 'difficult' Prog Rock label - nobody fell for their Fusion Rock (time to change that).

The compilation then cleverly goes past the usual choices for Blood, Sweat & Tears (their first three albums, the second and third of which peaked at No. 1 in America) and instead opts for a tune when the public had effectively stopped liking them - the cool "Roller Coaster". Coupled with the fab Tower Of Power and a Keith Olsen produced session in 1970 for Donnie Brooks - things continue well with Bill Chase's "Run Back To Mama" - the ex Maynard Ferguson trumpeter and his band sounding like they’ve been gargling old-school B, S & T. platters for breakfast.

Neither of the Hammer or Crystal Mansion cuts actually feature funky horns, but are guitar-driven monsters that 'feel' like they do. The first I heard of the brilliant scatted "Tuane" track was on Disc 2 of Rhino's fabulous 4CD Box Set "What It Is!" - a 2006 deep dive into Atlantic's vaults and associated labels looking for Rare Grooves. The song was supposed to have lyrics but band member Johnny De just scatted along with the backing track and they realised it was a winner sans words. The Crystal Mansion cut has the feel of a Rock Band that deep down wants to be the Average White Band or Mother's Finest when they grow up and their chandeliers drop.  And on it goes to a French single edit by The Flock and a Funk 45 most people will never see on Pearce Records 5841 (out on Kansas) by the cool sounding American Sound Ltd telling you about a hip relative to the sound of manic brass punctuations.

American Rock gets back to its soulful roots...the blurb on the rear inlay to CDBGPD 311 states. And I’d like to thank Ace for reminding us of that and being a credit to the reissuing community. Recommended...