"The Funk Box" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – 55-Tracks from 1970 to 1982 featuring James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Bobby Byrd, Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, The Chakachas, The Jimmy Castor Bunch, Billy Preston, Lyn Collins, The Fatback Band, The J.B.'s, Marvin Gaye, War, Cymande, The New Birth (featuring Bobby Womack), Barry White, Curtis Mayfield, Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson, Tower Of Power, The O'Jays, Kool & The Gang, Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, The Blackbyrds, B.T. Express, The Meters, Ohio Players, The Temptations, Average White Band, Jermaine Jackson, The Isley Brothers, Graham Central Station, Parliament, Brothers Johnson, Brass Construction, Brick, Johnny Guitar Watson, Bootsy's Rubber Band, Funkadelic, Rick James, Bohannon, Cameo and more (November 2000 USA Universal/Hip-O Compilation – Remastered 55-Track 4CD Velvet-Overlaid Digibook – Suha Gur Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With 284 Others Is Available In My

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites

HIGHER GROUND 
70ts Soul, R'n'B, Funk, Jazz Fusion
Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters  

Just Click Below To Purchase for £6.95 (2021 Update)

Thousands of E-Pages - All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs 

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"...Pass The Peas..."

Touchy-feely and Funky-footy! Pass The Peas Baby!

When compact discs first hit the market - for almost a decade or more - Rhino of the USA were always the reissue company of go-getter choice for collectors when it came to Soul, R&B and Funk – especially as they had unfettered access to the mighty array of labels in the Warner-Elektra-Atlantic Records cannon. But spare a thought for the mail-order branch of Universal, Hip-O, later to become the more famous Hip-O Select. And especially for this long-forgotten and rarely seen American-only thing of swivel-hip-beauty - "The Funk Box". Four CDs chock full of primo bootyliciousness and all of it delivered in neighbour-concerning speaking-thumping glory. Talk about a proper blast from the past...and one that needs to be reappraised. 

Released Stateside-only in late 2000 by Universal/Hip-O - its 55 stunningly-remastered tracks trace James Brown in July 1970 on King Records getting up and feeling like a Sex Machine all the way through to December 1982 on Capitol Records where Parliament's George Clinton was getting Atomic with his Dog (he could never leave that mutt alone). Woof-woof indeed! 

You get a slew of rare 45-single cuts, uncompromising full album versions, cleverly chosen CD compilation rarities from the 80ts and 90ts and even the occasional Promo-Only 12-inch single mix making its digital debut. It is without doubt one of those vault-trawls that I cannot stop playing and admiring. There is a lot to shake our booties too, rubbers to burn and ounces to bounce - so let's get some jungle fever and tear the roof off of this brick house... 

US released November 2000 - "The Funk Box" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Universal/Hip-O 314 541 789-2 (Barcode 731454178921) is a 55-Track 4CD Velvet-Covered Digibook Compilation featuring 45-Single A-sides and Full Album Tracks ranging from 1970 to 1982 (versions noted in text below) that plays out as follows:

CD1 (75:21 minutes):

1. Get Up (I Feel Like Being Like A) Sex Machine (Part 1 & 2) - JAMES BROWN (June 1970 US 45 on King 45-6318 - features The J.B.'s - Full Length Version, 5:15 minutes)

2. Express Yourself - CHARLES WRIGHT AND THE WATTS 103rd STREET RHYTHM BAND (August 1970 US 45 on Warner Brothers 7417, 3:51 minutes)

3. Give It Up Or Burnit A Loose - JAMES BROWN (unedited, undubbed mix first issued on the CD compilation "Funk Power - 1970: A Brand New Thang" in 1996 on Polydor/Chronicles 531 684-2 - features The J.B.'s, 6:23 minutes)  

4. Rock Steady - ARETHA FRANKLIN (October 1971 US 45 on Atlantic 2838 and on the "Young, Gifted & Black" LP, 3:11 minutes)

5. Slippin' Into Darkness - WAR (from the November 1971 US LP "All Day Music" on United Artists UAS 5546, Full Album Version at 6:59 minutes)

6. I Know You Got Soul - BOBBY BYRD (Extended Version at 4:42 minutes, first issued on the 1988 LP/CD compilation "James Brown's Funky People (Part 2)" on Polydor 835 847)

7. Jungle Fever - THE CHAKACHAS (November 1971 US 45 on Polydor 15030, 4:21 minutes) 

8. It's Just Begun - THE JIMMY CASTOR BUNCH (from the March 1972 US LP "It's Just Begun" on RCA Victor LSP-4640, 3:41 minutes)

9. Outa-Space - BILLY PRESTON (December 1971 US 45 on A&M Records AM-1320, B-side of "I Wrote A Simple Song", 4:07 minutes)

10. Think (About It) - LYN COLLINS (The Female Preacher) (May 1972 US 45 People 608, 3:19 minutes)

11. Goin' To See My Baby - FATBACK BAND (from the 1972 US LP "Let's Do It Again" on Perception Records PLP 28, 3:16 minutes)

12. Pass The Peas - J.B.'s (from the July 1972 US LP "Food For Thought" on People PE-5601, features James Brown and Fred Wesley, 3:28 minutes)

13. "T" Plays It Cool - MARVIN GAYE (from the December 1972 US Soundtrack LP "Trouble Man" on Tamla T 322L, Full album Version at 4:26 minutes)

14. The Message - CYMANDE (from the December 1972 US LP "Cymande" on Janus JLS 3044, Full Album Version at 4:15 minutes)

15. I Can Understand It - THE NEW BIRTH [featuring BOBBY WOMACK on Lead Vocals] (from the 1972 US debut album "Birth Day" on RCA Victor LSP-4797, Full Album Version at 6:21 minutes)

16. I'm Gonna Love You Just A Little More, Baby - BARRY WHITE (from the April 1973 US LP "I've Got So Much To Give" on 20th Century T-407, Full Album Version at 7:10 minutes)  

CD2 (77:30 minutes):

1. Future Shock - CURTIS MAYFIELD (from the June 1973 US LP "Back In The World" on Curtom CRS 8015, Full Album Version at 3:36 minutes)

2. The Bottle - GIL SCOTT-HERON and BRIAN JACKSON (from the May 1974 US LP "Winter in America" on Strata-East SES-19742, Full Album Version at 5:05 minutes) 

3. What Is Hip? - TOWER OF POWER (from the May 1973 US Debut LP "Tower Of Power" on Warner Brothers BS 2681, Full Album Version at 5:04 minutes)

4. The Payback - JAMES BROWN (from the December 1973 US 2LP-set "The Payback" on Polydor PD 2-3007 (April 1974 in the UK), Full Album Version at 7:25 minutes)

5. For The Love Of Money - THE O'JAYS (from the October 1973 US LP "Ship Ahoy" on Philadelphia International KZ 32408, Full Album Version at 7:20 minutes)

6. Hollywood Swinging - KOOL & THE GANG (from the October 1973 US LP "Wild And Peaceful" on De-Lite DEP 2013, Full Album Version at 4:35 minutes)

7. Tell Me Something Good - RUFUS featuring CHAKA KHAN (from the June 1974 US LP "Rags To Rufus" on ABC Records ABCX-809, Full Album Version at 4:36 minutes)

8. Do It, Fluid - THE BLACKBYRDS (from the June 1974 US LP "The Blackbyrds" on Fantasy F-9444, Full Album Version at 5:25 minutes) 

9. Do It ('Til You're Satisfied) - B.T. EXPRESS (from the November 1974 US LP "Do It ('Til You're Satisfied)" on Scepter Records SPS 5117, Full Album Version at 5:51 minutes)

10. Just Kissed My Baby - THE METERS (from the October 1974 US LP "Rejuvenation" on Reprise MS 2200, Full Album Version at 4:42 minutes)

11. Skin Tight - OHIO PLAYERS (from the April 1974 US LP "Skin Tight" on Mercury SRM-1 705, Full Album Version at 7:54 minutes)

12. I Get Lifted - GEORGE McCRAE (October 1974 US 45 on T.K. Records TK 1007, B-side to "I Can't Leave You Alone", 2:46 minutes)

13. Shakey Ground - THE TEMPTATIONS (February 1975 US 45 on Gordy G 7142F, 4:02 minutes)

14. School Boy Crush - AVERAGE WHITE BAND (October 1975 US 45 on Atlantic 45-3304, 4:58 minutes)

15. Erucu - JERMAINE JACKSON (from the October 1975 US Soundtrack LP "Mahogany" on Motown M6-858S1, 3:29 minutes) 

 

CD3 (78:45 minutes):

1. Fight The Power Parts 1 & 2 - THE ISLEY BROTHERS (from the June 1975 US LP "The Heat Is On" on T-Neck PZ 33536, Full Album Version at 5:20 minutes)

2. The Jam - GRAHAM CENTRAL STATION (from the August 1975 US LP "Ain't No 'Bout-A-Doubt It" on Warner Brothers BS 2876, Full Album Version at 3:38 minutes)

3. Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker) - PARLIAMENT (from the February 1976 US LP "Mothership Connection" on Casablanca NBLP 7022, Full Album Version at 5:46 minutes)

4. Get The Funk Out Ma Face - BROTHERS JOHNSON (August 1976 US 45 on A&M Records 1851-S, Full Album Version at 5:57 minutes)

5. Changin' - BRASS CONSTRUCTION (from the December 1975 US Debut LP "Brass Construction" on United Artists UA-LA545-G - charted February 1976, Full Album Version at 8:12 minutes)

6. Dazz - BRICK (September 1976 US 45 on Bang B-727, Full Album Version at 5:35 minutes)

7. Superman Lover - JOHNNY GUITAR WTSON (from the 1976 US LP "Ain't That A Bitch" on DJM Records DJLPA-3, Full Album Version at 5:42 minutes)

8. The Pinocchio Theory - BOOTSY'S RUBBER BAND (February 1977 US 45 on Warner Brothers WBS 8328, Full Album Version at 6:07 minutes)

9. Slide - SLAVE (from the March 1977 US LP "Slave" on Cotillion SD 9914, Full Album Version at 6:49 minutes)

10. The Hump - PATRICE RUSHEN (from the March 1977 US LP "Shout It Out" on Prestige P-10101, Full Album Version at 6:08 minutes) 

11. Running Away (12" Mix) - ROY AYERS (August 1977 US 12" Single on Polydor PD D502, 6:54 minutes)

12. Brick House (12" Mix, A Special Length Disco Version) - THE COMMODORES (August 1977 US 12" Single on Motown M00007D1, 6:11 minutes)

13. Let's Have Some Fun - BAR-KAYS (from the November 1977 US LP "Flying High On Your Love" on Mercury SRM-1-1181, Full Album Version at 6:02 minutes)

CD4 (75:39 minutes):

1. You And I – RICK JAMES (from the May 1978 US LP "Come Get It!" on Gordy G7-981R1, Full Album Version at 8:04 minutes)

2. I Like Girls – FATBACK (from the June 1978 US LP "Fired Up 'N' Kickin'" on Spring Records SP-1-6718, Full Album Version at 7:37 minutes)

3. Let's Start The Dance - BOHANNON (from the June 1978 US LP "Summertime Groove" on Mercury SRM-1-3728, Full Album Version at 5:53 minutes)

4. One Nation Under A Groove - FUNKADELIC (from the September 1978 US LP "One Nation Under A Groove" on Warner Brothers BSK 3209, Full Album version at 7:27 minutes)  

5. Bustin' Loose - CHUCK BROWN & THE SOUL SEARCHERS (from the January 1979 US LP "Bustin' Loose" on Source Records SOR-076, Full Album Version at 7:41 minutes)

6. I Just Want To Be (12" Extended Mix) - CAMEO (June 1979 US Promo-Only 12" Single on Chocolate City CCD-20016, 6:21 minutes)

7. Glide - PLEASURE (from the 1979 US LP "Future Now" on Fantasy F-9578, Full Album Version at 6:28 minutes)

8. Behind The Groove – TEENA MARIE (from the March 1980 US LP "Lady T" on Gordy G7-992R1, Full Album Version at 6:03 minutes)

9. More Bounce To The Ounce – ZAPP (from the September 1980 US Debut LP "Zapp" on Warner Brothers BSK 3463, Full Album Version at 9:27 minutes)

10. Burn Rubber On Me (Why You Wanna Hurt Me) – GAP BAND (from the January 1981 US album "Gap Band III" on Mercury SRM-1-4003, Full Album Version at 5:16 minutes)

11. Atomic Dog – GEORGE CLINTON (December 1982 US 45 on Capitol B-5201, Instrumental B-side Single Version at 4:44 minutes)

The digibook is covered in blood-red velvet with a sort of plastic embossed THE FUNK BOX logo attached on the front and a card track list on the rear. One tiny irritating thing about the otherwise completely exemplary 60-page booklet attached inside is that none of the inside entries tell the song’s actual playing time – you have to refer to the sheet on the back of the box. So you can’t easily tell which is a single edit and which is an album cut (I’ve provided this info in each entry above). But what is brill are the STEPHEN IVORY intro and song-by-song history/explanations – each entry with just that right touch of discography detail, scene-setting background and lingo-wit. 2 Live Crew and Public Enemy have sampled the sex-pot moaning of "Jungle Fever" by The Chakachas while everyone from Heavy D to Pharcyde have plundered the J.B.s doing "Pass The Peas” – info like that which brings this genre into today. 

A huge draw is going to be the stunning Remastered Audio by a fave Engineer whose name I actually seek out – SUHA GUR. He's had his name on loads of Universal and Hip-O Select quality reissues including swathes of the Motown catalogue and the "Gold" 2CD compilations. When you clap ears on say the seven-minute album cut of Barry White giving it some Walrus of Love in his "I'm Gonna Love You Just A Little More, Baby" song – the Audio will blow you away – clear, ballsy, none too amped for the sake of it – just full-on and thrillingly present. Time and time again as you remember stuff you’d forgotten, the audio just keeps on whomping you with its quality.

But it's also the clever choices - take the Bobby Byrd cut which an extended variant of 4:42 minutes that turned up on a now long-forgotten James Brown-related CD compilation in 1988 - instead of giving you the dated false live roaring voices of the single - you get an undubbed cut that is quite literally the definition of Funky Nirvana. The Marvin Gaye cut from his hugely influential "Trouble Man" soundtrack is ""T" Plays It Cool" - probably the best instrumental cut on the album. Speaking of influential non-vocal sides, DJs quickly flipped the rather ordinary "I Wrote A Simple Song" by former Let It Be Beatles and Sticky Fingers Stones sidekick Billy Preston, only to find gold on the flipside - a 4:07-minute piece of clavinet synth Funk called "Outa-Space". It's the link between Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" Funk and all the way back "Green Onions" almost. 

The Cymande track "The Message" had its positivity featured on the premier US R&B TV program "Soul Train" where it became an anthem for the times and deep in the second side of a sappy "Mahogany" soundtrack was Jermaine Jackson's deeply cool "Erucu" - another DJ find - like that of Jimmy Castor. And those full-on album versions are fabulous - Bobby Womack with The New Birth on "I Can Understand It", JB giving it seven-minutes of "The Payback", Aaron Neville with The Meters and Chaka with Rufus telling us to "Get Into Something Good". I've reviewed the Patrice Rushen album "Shout It Out" where "The Hump" resides - her still only 24 and playing like a brother twice her years. Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson, Bar-Kays, Funkadelic, The Gap Band and Bohannon – great choices and it just keeps on keeping on like that, to the butt-waddling finish...

"The Funk Box" has been deleted years now, as is every title on Hip-O and Hip-O Select - all sought after and pricey into the bargain. But sometimes, these reissue company’s just get it 'so right'. And this smooth operator is one of those. 

You may have to pay for it, but I'd say, it's worth a shell out just to get that 'More Bounce To Your Ounce" sounding and looking this good...

"I Think Of You: The Westbound Singles 1969-75" by THE DETROIT EMERALDS - featuring James Mitchell with Ivory (Ivy) and Abrim (Abe) Tilmon (September 2017 UK Ace Records/Westbound Records CD Compilation of Remasters – Duncan Cowell Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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HIGHER GROUND 
70ts Soul, R'n'B, Funk, Jazz Fusion
Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters  

Just Click Below To Purchase for £6.95 (2021 Update)

Thousands of E-Pages - All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs 

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"...Baby Let Me Take You In My Arms..."

A beautiful and deeply classy CD compilation from those on-the-money gents over at Ace Records of the UK (via the Westbound label imprint) - the complete Detroit Emeralds 45-single output on CD for the first time (1969 through to 1975). Even though (sadly) there are two British 45 B-sides amiss (time constraints no doubt), this compilation will also allow Blighty fans to sequence most of these elusive 45-mix nuggets on CD too for the first time. So much to wade through, here are twenty-three Emeralds from the motor city...

UK released Friday, 29 September 2017 - "I Think Of You: The Westbound Singles 1969-75" by THE DETROIT EMERALDS on Ace Records/Westbound Records CDSEWD 160 (Barcode 029667085625) is a 23-Track CD Compilation of US-45 Single Remasters (with UK 45-equivalents also listed) that plays out as follows (73:49 minutes): 

1. Holding On 
2. Things Are Looking Up
Tracks 1 and 2 are the A&B-sides of a February 1969 US 45-single on Westbound W 147 

3. I Bet You Get The One (Who Loves You) 
4. If I Lose Your Love 
Tracks 3 and 4 are the A&B-sides of a December 1969 US 45-single on Westbound W 156

5. I Can't See Myself Doing Without You 
6. Just Now And Then 
Tracks 5 and 6 are the A&B-sides of a May 1970 US 45-single on Westbound W 170

7. Do Me Right 
Track 7 is the A-side of a January 1971 US 45-single on Westbound W 172 (B-side is Track 6)
Tracks 7 and 6 are the A&B-sides of their debut UK 45-single from March 1971 on Pye International 7N 25544

8. Wear This Ring (With Love) 
Track 8 is the A-side of a June 1971 US 45-single on Westbound W 181 (B-side is Track 3)
Tracks 8 and 3 are the A&B-sides of their second UK 45-single from December 1971 on Janus 6146 004

9. You Want It, You Got It 
10. Till You Decide To Come Home 
Tracks 9 and 10 are the A&B-sides of a December 1971 US 45-single on Westbound W 192
Tracks 9 and 10 are the A&B-sides of a March 1972 UK 45-single on Janus 6146 007
Track 9 UK issued April 1973 on Westbound 6146 103 with Track 18 "Whatcha Gonna Wear Tomorrow" as its B-side 

11. Baby Let Me Take You (In My Arms) 
12. I'll Never Sail The Sea Again
Tracks 11 and 12 are the A&B-sides of a May 1972 US 45-single on Westbound W 203
Tracks 7 ("Do Me Right") and 11 are the A&B-sides of a June 1972 UK 45-single on Janus 6146 015

13. Feel The Need In Me 
14. There's A Love For Me Somewhere 
Tracks 13 and 14 are the A&B-sides of an October 1972 US 45-single on Westbound W 209
Track 13 b/w "And I Love Her" are the A&B-sides of a November 1972 UK 45-single on Janus 6146 020
UK B-side not featured on this compilation

15. You're Gettin' A Little Too Smart 
16. Heaven Couldn't Be Like This 
Tracks 15 and 16 are the A&B-sides of a May 1973 US 45-single on Westbound W 213
Tracks 15 and 17 ("Lee") are the A&B-sides of an April 1974 UK 45-single on Janus 6146 108

17. Lee
18. Whatcha Gonna Wear Tomorrow 
Tracks 17 and 18 are the A&B-sides of a November 1973 US 45-single on Westbound W 220
Track 18 was also the B-side in the UK of "You Want It, You Got It" (Track 9) issued April 1973 on Westbound 6046 103

19. Set It Out 
20. I'm Qualified 
Tracks 19 and 20 by A.C. Tilmon & The Detroit Emeralds - A&B of July 1974 US 45-single on Westbound W 226

21. Rosetta Stone 
22. Yes, I Know I'm In Love 
Tracks 21 and 22 by A.C. Tilmon & The Detroit Emeralds - A&B of March 1975 US 45-single on Westbound WT-5005

23. I Think Of You (Single Edit) 
Track 23 is the A-side of a July 1973 UK 45-single on Westbound 6146 104 (its B-side "So Long" is not featured on this CD)

The 16-page booklet pictures out three Soul-vocalist heroes - JAMES MITCHELL, IVORY (Ivy) TILMON and his brother ABRIM (Abe) TILMON and of course loads of those tasty Westbound Records and Pye International single labels throughout. Expert and genre-lover TONY ROUNCE gives us a detailed history of the Little Rock quartet first called The Emeralds on Ric-Tic Records up until the threesome became established and signed to Westbound. 

1969's "Holding On" became a darling of the UK's heated Northern Soul scene whilst looking down the writing credits and its impressive to see Abe Tilman's name on almost 95% of the titles (in-between are some nice black and white publicity photos of the boys in less quarrelsome times. Long-standing Audio Engineer for Ace DUNCAN COWELL has handled the Transfers/Remasters and the audio is glorious.   

"It's too nice for a boy like me to have Paradise..." - James Mitchell sings in the fantastic dancer "Holding On" that opens proceedings. The Northern Soul boys took the shuffler to heart and when Westbound Records finally put out the "Do Me Right" LP in 1971 in the USA (Westbound WB 2006) - it became an import sought after. Same could be said for the "Do Me Right" title where our hero wants his lady to take him to the dealer to buy him an automobile (good luck with that). 

Smoocherville arrives with "Wear This Ring (With Love)" - you for me and me always for you. Mid-tempo chugging to and fro comes in the shape of the brassy "I Can't See Myself Doing Without You" - where our lad could be offered the whole wide world but he'd have to turn it down if she's not by his side 24/7. 

The first version of "Feel The Need In Me" that turned up on the 1972 LP "You Want It, You Got It" is such a hit - it's hardly a surprise that ace-remixer Tom Moulton saw the song's potential when he remixed it for the UK market in 1977, upped its pace and changed out Mitchell's vocal to Tilmon (got a No. 12 placing for that). Can't count the number of times I've heard the stunning sexy groove of "Baby Let Me Take You (In My Arms)" in a cool movie - I think the kick-ass "Baby Driver" was the last one. Some understated but cool All Green-type geetar work going on in "I Bet You Get The One (Who Loves You)" - another great neck-jerker. Cheesy moments come in the gull-shape of "I'll Never Sail The Sea Again" and the sappy "Till You Decide To Come Home" - but even then – somehow they make it work and mostly it's lovely like that all the way to the end. 

Understatedly sexy and smooth like Al Green getting all righteous in his prime - The Detroit Emeralds have always been special to British Soul boys (elsewhere the same) and on the aural evidence displayed here, it's easy to hear why "I Think Of You"...

"The Disco Box" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – Single Tracks from 1973 to 1985 featuring Love Unlimited Orchestra (with Barry White), The Jackson 5 (with Michael Jackson), The Hues Corporation, Gloria Gaynor, KC & The Sunshine Band, Van McCoy, Tavares, Silver Connection, 5000 Volts, The Miracles, Hot Chocolate, The Sylvers, Candi Staton, Vicki Sue Robinson, Wild Cherry, Rose Royce, The Trammps, Donna Summer, Chic, Evelyn "Champagne" King, A Taste Of Honey, Musique, Cheryl Lynn, Peaches & Herb, Dan Hartman, Sylvester, Heatwave, Amii Stewart, Anita Ward, Patrick Hernandez, Sister Sledge, Change and more (February 1999 US Rhino Compilation - 4CD 80-Track Glitter-Ball Coloured Digibook Set (with Attached 60-Page Booklet) Remastered in RhinOphonic Authentic Sound Covering 1973 to 1985 – Dan Hersch, Ken Perry, Stewart Whitmore and Geoff Sykes Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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This Review Along With 284 Others Is Available In My

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites

HIGHER GROUND 
70ts Soul, R'n'B, Funk, Jazz Fusion
Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters  

Just Click Below To Purchase for £6.95

Thousands of E-Pages - All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs 

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

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"...Good Times... "

Well hustle my Evelyn Champagne King shameful elephant flares and Love Machine my Miraculous dangling glitterball – if it isn't that dread musical genre devoid of Cannibalistic Morlocks, Salem Witches and Dirty Dank Druid Solstice Rituals (and other sensible things like that) – DISCO! 

For most of us hirsute male Rock-reared types of a certain age - Seventies and Eighties Disco started with The Hues Corporation Rocking The Boat in early 1974 and ended in late 1982 with The Weather Girls somehow raining men instead of atmospheric teardrops from cumulous-nimbus clouds. In-between, we beard-stroking Progtastic mannish boys would occasionally (and usually under severe influence) give a warm nod to the stunning Funk of Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers in all their Chic incarnations (how good is Sister Sledge's "We Are Family" and absolutely everything on the Chic "Risqué" album) - whilst getting down on it and being fresh with Kool and The Gang. And in a nightclub at about half past desperation - Disco didn't seem like such a bad idea either - especially if the girly you were boogieing with was wearing hot pants and a boob tube and was happy to see you get in touch with your feminine side (somebody needs to get in touch with something in this scenario). But I digress - to the American glitter-digibook-pack in hand... 

An 80-track haul like this allowed compilers DAVID McLEES and BRIAN CHIN to stretch out. For sure all the huge touchstone artists that lifted the genre into a global phenomenon are here – Gloria Gaynor, Donna Summer, KC & The Sunshine Band, Hot Chocolate, Wild Cherry, Sylvester, Anita Ward, Rose Royce, G.Q., Patrick Hernandez, A Taste Of Honey and so on - right up to Cheryl Lynn, Change, Heatwave, Lipps, Inc., Indeep, Freeze and Patrice Rushen. There are, however, absences. So while The Trammps see their 1977 monster "Disco Inferno" from "Saturday Night Fever" represented on CD2 – fairly obvious licensing-problem absentees include Barry White, The Bee Gees, Michael Jackson and Grace Jones (White and Jackson sneak in via Love Unlimited Orchestra and The Jackson 5). And most shocking of all, there isn't a '12" Single Mix' in sight on any of the 4CDs – the 12" being a Vinyl-spinning format that was essential to DJs and one that made Disco and dancing in general in a nightclub such a global stormtrooper. 

Still, those niggles aside – what you do get here is a properly well-delivered blast from the past with way more good that bad – a typically cool and cleverly compiled RhinOphonic set of quality 45-single Remasters you actually want to hear and own. Lost in Music indeed – let's return to Funky Town...

US released 16 February 1999 - "The Disco Box" by VARIOUS ARISTS on Rhino R2 75595 (Barcode 081227559526) is an 80-Track 4CD Glitter-Ball Coloured Digibook Set with attached 60-page booklet Remastered in RhinOphonic Authentic Sound. It covers the years 1973 to 1985 and plays out as follows (all tracks US 45-single A-sides unless otherwise stated):

CD1 (68:41 minutes):
1. Love's Theme - LOVE UNLIMITED ORCHESTRA (November 1973, 20th Century 2609, featuring Barry White)
2. Dancing Machine - THE JACKSON 5 (February 1974, Motown 1286, featuring Michael Jackson)  
3. Rock The Boat - THE HUES CORPORATION (April 1974, RCA Victor 0232)
4. Honeybee - GLORIA GAYNOR (March 1974, Columbia 45909)
5. Doctor's Orders - CAROL DOUGLAS (November 1974, Midland International 10113)
6. Get Dancin' - DISCO-TEX & THE SEX-O-LETTES featuring Sir Monti Rock III (November 1974, Chelsea 3004)
7. Shame, Shame, Shame - SHIRLEY & COMPANY (December 1974, Vibration 532)
8. Never Can Say Goodbye - GLORIA GAYNOR (October 1974, MGM 14748)
9. Get Down Tonight - KC & THE SUNSHINE BAND (March 1975, T.K Records 1009)
10. The Hustle - VAN McCOY & THE SOUL CITY SYMPHONY (April 1975, Avco 4653)
11. It Only Takes A Minute - TAVARES (July 1975, Capitol 4111)
12. Fly, Robin, Fly - SILVER CONNECTION (September 1975, Midland International 10339)
13. I'm On Fire - 5000 VOLTS (September 1975, Philips 40801)
14. Love Machine (Pt. 1) - THE MIRACLES (October 1975, Tamla 54262)
15. You Sexy Thing - HOT CHOCOLATE (October 1975, Big Tree 16047)
16. Boogie Fever - THE SYLVERS (November 1975, Capitol 4179)
17. That's The Way (I Like It) - KC & THE SUNSHINE BAND (October 1975, T.K. Records 1015)
18. More, More, More (Part 1) - ANDREA TRUE CONNECTION (February 1976, Buddah 515, a Tom Moulton Mix)
19. Young Hearts Run Free - CANDI STATON (March 1976, Warner Brothers 8181)
20. Turn The Beat Around - VICKI SUE ROBINSON (March 1976, RCA Victor 10562)

CD2 (71:19 minutes):
1. (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty - KC & THE SUNSHINE BAND (June 1976, T.K. Records 1019)
2. Get Up And Boogie - SILVER CONVENTION (March 1976, Midland International 10571)
3. A Fifth Of Beethoven - WALTER MURPHY & THE BIG APPLE BAND (May 1976, Private Stock 45073)
4. Play That Funky Music - WILD CHERRY (June 1976, Epic 50225)
5. Car Wash - ROSE ROYCE (September 1976, MCA 40615)
6. Don't Leave Me This Way - THELMA HOUSTON (December 1976, Tamla 54278)
7. The Best Disco In Town - THE RITCHIE FAMILY (August 1976, Marlin 3306)
8. Disco Inferno - THE TRAMMPS (February 1977, Atlantic 3389, a Tom Moulton Mix)
9. Boogie Nights - HEATWAVE (June 1977, Epic 50370)
10. I Feel Love - DONNA SUMMER (July 1977, Casablanca 884)
11. Keep It Comin' Love - KC & THE SUNSHINE BAND (July 1977, T.K. Records 1023)
12. Dance With Me - PETER BROWN (January 1978, Drive 6269, special background vocals by Betty Wright)
13. Everybody Dance - CHIC (March 1978, Atlantic 3469)
14. Shame - EVELYN "Champagne" KING (April 1978, RCA Victor 11122)
15. Boogie Oogie Oogie - A TASTE OF HONEY (May 1978, Capitol 4565)
16. Get Off - FOXY (June 1978, Dash 5046)
17. I Love The Nightlife (Disco 'Round) - ALICIA BRIDGES (June 1978, Polydor 14483)
18. In The Bush - MUSIQUE (September 1978, Prelude 71110)
19. Hot Shot - KAREN YOUNG (July 1978, West End 1211)
20. Got To Be Real - CHERYL LYNN (August 1978, Columbia 10808) 

CD3 (77:02 minutes):
1. Shake Your Groove Thing - PEACHES & HERB (October 1978, Polydor/MVP 14514)
2. Village People - Y.M.C.A. (October 1978, Casablanca 945)
3. Le Freak - CHIC (October 1978, Atlantic 3519)
4. I Will Survive - GLORIA GAYNOR (December 1978, Polydor 14508)
5. Livin' It Up (Friday Night) - BELL & JAMES (October 1978, A&M Records 2069)
6. Instant Replay - DAN HARTMAN (September 1978, Blue Sky 2772)
7. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) - SYLVESTER (December 1978, Fantasy 846)
8. I Want Your Love - CHIC (January 1979, Atlantic 3557)
9. Knock On Wood - AMII STEWART (January 1979, Hansa/Ariola America 7736)
10. Disco Nights (Rock-Freak) - G. Q. (January 1979, Arista 0388)
11. Love And Desire (Part 1) - ARPEGGIO (February 1979, Polydor 14535)
12. He's The Greatest Dancer - SISTER SLEDGE (January 1979, Cotillion 44245)
13. Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now - McFADDEN & WHITEHEAD (March 1979, Philadelphia International 3681)
14. Ring My Bell - ANITA WARD (April 1979, Juana 3422)
15. Bad Girls - DONA SUMMER (May 1979, Casablanca 988)
16. Born To Be Alive - PATRICK HERNANDEZ (May 1979, Columbia 10986)
17. Good Times - CHIC (June 1979, Atlantic 3584)
18. Don't You Want My Love - DEBBIE JACOBS (August 1979, MCA 41102)
19. H.A.P.P.Y. Radio - EDWIN STARR (May 1979, 20th Century 2408)
20. I Shoulda Loved Ya - NARADA MICHAEL WALDEN (November 1979, Atlantic 3631)
21. We Are Family - SISTER SLEDGE (April 1979, Cotillion 44251)  

CD4 (74:34 minutes):
1. Heart Of Glass - BLONDIE (January 1979, Chrysalis 2295)
2. Lost In Music - SISTER SLEDGE (July 1979, Cotillion 45001)
3. I'm Caught Up (In A One Night Love Affair) - INNER LIFE (November 1979, Prelude 8004)
4. Got To Love Somebody - SISTER SLEDGE (December 1979, Cotillion 45007)
5. Funkytown - LIPPS, INC. (March 1980, Casablanca 2233)
6. Celebration - KOOL & THE GANG (October 1980, De-Lite 807, produced in association with Eumir Deodato)
7. A Lover's Holiday - CHANGE (March 1980, Warner Brothers/RFC 49208)
8. I Like What You're Doin' To Me - YOUNG & COMPANY (October 1980, Brunswick 55544)
9. The Glow Of Love - CHANGE (October 1980, Warner Brothers/RFC 49587)
10. Cruisin' The Streets - THE BOYSTOWN GANG (May 1981, Moby Dick 233)
11. On The Beat - THE B.B. & Q BAND (July 1981, Capitol 4993)
12. Forget Me Nots - PATRICE RUSHEN (February 1982, Elektra 47427)
13. Get Down On It - KOOL & THE GANG (February 1982, De-Lite 818)
14. It's Raining Men - THE WEATHER GIRLS (November 1982, Columbia 03354)
15. Last Night A D.J. Saved My Life - INDEEP (December 1982, Sound Of New York 602)
16. I.O.U. - FREEZE (July 1983, StreetWise 1110)
17. Give It Up - KC (December 1983, Meca 1001)
18. Change Of Heart - CHANGE (March 1984, Atlantic/RFC 89684)
19. Fresh - KOOL & THE GANG (March 1985, De-Lite 880623-7)

The 60-page lengthy booklet attached to the inside of the hard digibook goes from two pages of Production Notes by BRIAN CHIN where he pleads for acceptance of what he clearly believes is musical genius to an Essay called "In The Beat Of The Night" where he catalogues the Soul-offshoot's trajectory from sweaty New York dancefloors to the Pop and R&B charts of the entire world. Classy black & white publicity photos of lesser-celebrated lady artists pepper the text – Carol Douglas, The Ritchie Family, Vicki Sue Robinson, Musique, Shirley Goodman of Shirley & Company and the multi-instrumentalist Patrice Rushen – while the big boys are there too – Donna Summer, Gloria Gaynor, Amii Stewart, the gals of Sister Sledge and many more. Rod Temperton's brilliant gangsters of the groove Heatwave are featured as are the mighty, mighty Kool and The Gang and KC & The Sunshine Band. 

Interesting features include DJs discussing their beginners haunts like Uncle Charlie's in Manhattan or The Saloon in Minneapolis and on up to Classic Clubs like The Loft in New York and the Paradise Ballroom in Los Angeles. Chin puts up lists too – 50 Essential Disco Albums – 45 Pre-Disco Floors-Shaking 45s (1971 to 1973 mostly) – and each of the individual 80 entry credits gives US R&B and Pop chart numbers as well as crucial Discography info. Effort has gone into this, and it shows. 

From the German-produced Silver Connection and Donna Summer anthems to the Italian-American rhythms of Change on through to the dominance of the Chic Organization and Kool & The Gang (who would continue much further than this Disco Box permits) – it all sounds spiffing courtesy of Remasters from a team of four long-standing Audio Engineers – DAN HERSCH, KEN PERRY, STEWART WHITMORE and GEOFF SYKES. Whether grooving to the fabulous ooh-yeah Funk vs. Disco of "Love Machine (Pt. 1) " by The Miracles (a 45 I remember my sister Frances first hooked me into) or the sublime cool of "I Want Your Love" by Chic (what a hooky winner) – the power of these transfers is with you all the way. 

As you play through each CD – there are for sure moments when you want to hit the skip button – A Fifth Of Beethoven and Y.M.C.A. (yuck) – but more often than not – you find yourself rediscovering tunes that are way better than you remember them. "Get Down Tonight”, "Boogie Nights", "Shake Your Groove Thang”, "(You Make Me Feel) Mighty Real", "I Shoulda Loved Ya", "A Lover’s Holiday" and so on. Even inclusions of overplayed anthems like Blondie's shimmering "Heart Of Glass", Candi Staton's exit-that-rut pleading "Young Hearts Run Free", Patrice Rushen's Men In Black-featured "Forget Me Nots" and the Sex and The City catwalk-hustle of Cheryl Lynn's "Got To Be Real" - bring a smile to your face. And it's not surprising that "Shame, Shame, Shame", "The Hustle", "Car Wash" and "Fresh" all hit the Number One slot on the R&B charts (often repeating the same in Pop). 

My only bugbear might be that in an ideal world, a Deluxe Edition CD5 of "The Disco Box" could have given us those rare and sought after twelve-inch mixes without duplicating what was on discs one to four. But outside of that, impressive...

For sure this long-deleted and frankly long-forgotten Digibook set has acquired a nasty price tag since its February 1999 US release more than two decades ago - but should you be able to nab one at a reasonable outlay - I'd say it's time to shake your booty, because that's the way I like it (uh huh uh huh). Oh stop it...

"Original Album Series" by BILLY COBHAM [ex Mahavishnu Orchestra Drummer] – Including The Albums "Spectrum" (October 1973), "Total Eclipse" (November 1974), "Crosswinds" (March 1974), "A Funky Thide Of Sings" (October 1975) and "Shabazz: Recorded Live In Europe" (May 1975) on Atlantic Records – featuring Tommy Bolin, Jan Hammer, George Duke, Cornell Dupree, John Abercrombie, Jon Tropea, Randy and Mike Brecker, Ron Carter, Ray Barretto and more (November 2012 UK Warner Brothers/Atlantic 5CD Capacity Wallet of Remasters in Mini LP Repro Card Sleeves) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With 284 Others Is Available In My

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HIGHER GROUND 
70ts Soul, R'n'B, Funk, Jazz Fusion
Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters  

Just Click Below To Purchase for £6.95

Thousands of E-Pages - All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs 

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"...Searching For The Right Door... "

Drummer BILLY COBHAM gets his first four Jazz Fusion studio sets on Atlantic Records (1973 to 1975) reissued here - alongside a long forgotten European Live outing (also 1975) sandwiched inbetween. 

In January 2021 - the ever-popular "Original Album Series" has a huge number of bands and artists in its formidable WEA cannon - capacity wallet 5CD card box sets most of which are Remasters (as they are here) housing five Mini LP Card Repro Sleeves. And with most five-packs hovering around ten to twelve post Brexit sterling pounds, what's not to like... 

But sometimes it's those off the well-beaten musical track clumps that are the most interesting – the ex Mahavishnu Orchestra sticks-man being a good case in point. Let's get on the Funky Thide of Sings...

UK released November 2012 - "Original Album Series" by BILLY COBHAM on UK Warner Brothers/Atlantic 8122-79696-2 (Barcode 081227969219) is a 5CD Capacity Wallet of Remasters in Mini LP Repro Card Sleeves that plays out as follows:

CD1 "Spectrum" (37:18 minutes):
1. Quadrant 4 [Side 1]
2. Medley: (a) Searching For The Right Door / (b) Spectrum 
3. Medley: (a) Anxiety / (b) Taurian Matador 
4. Stratus [Side 2]
5. Medley: (a) To The Women In My Life / (b) Le Lis 
6. Medley: (a) Snoopy's Search / (b) Red Baron 
Tracks 1 to 6 are his debut studio album "Spectrum" – released October 1973 in the USA on Atlantic Records SD 7268 and October 1973 in the UK on Atlantic K 40506. Produced by BILLY COBHAM (with Engineer Ken Scott) – players included Jan Hammer on Keyboards, Tommy Bolin and John Tropea on Guitars, Joe Farrell and Jimmy Owens on Horns, Ron Carter and Lee Sklar on Basses and Ray Barretto on Congas with Billy Cobham on Drums and Percussion (all songs by BC). 

CD2 "Total Eclipse" (44:04 minutes):
1. Solarization [Side 1]
(a) Solarization (b) Second Phase (c) Crescent Sun (d) Voyage (e) Solarization-Recapitulation 
2. Lunarputians 
3. Total Eclipse 
4. Bandits 
5. Moon Germs [Side 2]
6. The Moon Ain't Made Of Green Cheese 
7. Sea Of Tranquility 
8. Last Frontier 
Tracks 1 to 8 are his third album "Total Eclipse" – released November 1974 in the USA on Atlantic SD 18121 and November 1974 in the UK on Atlantic K 50098. Produced by BILLY COBHAM (with Engineer Ken Scott) – players included Cornell Dupree and John Abercrombie on Guitars, Mike and Randy Brecker with Glenn Ferris on Horns, Milcho Leviev on Keyboards, Alex Blake on Bass, David Earle Johnson on Congas with Billy Cobham on Drums and Percussion (all songs by BC). 

CD3 "Crosswinds" (35:11 minutes):
1. Spanish Moss - "A Spanish Portrait" [Side 1]
(a) Spanish Moss (b) Savannah The Serene (c) Storm (d) Flash Flood
2. The Pleasant Pheasant [Side 2]
3. Heather 
4. Crosswind 
Tracks 1 to 4 are his second album "Crosswinds" – released March 1974 in the USA on Atlantic SD 7300 and March 1974 in the UK on Atlantic K 50037. Produced by BILLY COBHAM (with Engineer Ken Scott) – players included John Abercrombie on Guitars, George Duke on Keyboards, Randy Brecker and Garnett Brown on Horns with Mike Brecker on Woodwinds, John Williams on Bass, Lee Pastora on Latin Percussion with Billy Cobham on Drums and Percussion (all songs by BC). 

CD4 "A Funky Thide Of Sings" (45:03 minutes):
1. Panhandler [Side 1]
2. Sorcery
3. A Funky Thide Of Sings 
4. Thinking Of You 
5. Some Skunk Funk 
6. Light At The End Of The Tunnel [Side 2]
7. A Funky Kind Of Thing 
8. Moody Modes 
Tracks 1 to 8 are his fifth album "A Funky Thide Of Sings" – released October 1975 in the USA on Atlantic SD 18149 and October 1975 in the UK on Atlantic K 50189. Produced by BILLY COBHAM and MARY MEYERSON - players included John Scofield on Guitars, Milcho Leviev on Keyboards, Randy and Michael Brecker, Larry Schneider, Walt Fowler and Glenn Ferris on Horns with Tom Malone on Trombone and Flute, Alex Blake on Bass, "Rebop" Kwaku Baah on Congas with Billy Cobham on Drums and Percussion.

CD5 "Shabazz: Recorded Live In Europe" (39:38 minutes):
1. Shabazz [Side 1]
2. Taurian Matador (Revised)
3. Red Baron (Revised) [Side 2]
4. Tenth Pinn 
Tracks 1 to 4 are his fourth album "Shabazz: Recorded Live In Europe" – released May 1975 in the USA on Atlantic SD 18139 and May 1975 in the UK on Atlantic K 50147. Produced by BILLY COBHAM and KEN SCOTT – players included John Abercrombie on Guitar, Randy and Mike Brecker with Glenn Ferris on Saxophone, Trumpet and Trombone (respectively) with Milcho Leviev on Keyboards, Alex Blake on Bass and Billy Cobham on Drums and Percussion. "Taurian Matador (Revised)" recorded 4 July 1974 at the Montreux Music Festival in Switzerland – all other tracks recorded 13 July 1974 at the Rainbow Theatre in London. 

The card sleeves aren't up to the exacting standards of those Japanese paper-sleeve reissues or SHM-CD Mini LP variants - "Spectrum" loses its gatefold while the musician credits on the rear of "Total Eclipse" and "Crosswinds" are suddenly AWOL completely (I've provided them above) – but they do look dinky and pleasing enough to the eye. And the Remastered Audio courtesy of Rhino (circa 2001, 2002 and 2005 and beyond) is uniformly great throughout. The running order of the albums as per their release dates is 'out' (see above), but other than that, it's a winner. To the many colours...

With ex Zephyr guitar whizz-kid Tommy Bolin (later with The James Gang) and super-sessionman axe-picker John Tropea joined by Jan Hammer on Keyboards (soon to do stints with The Jeff Beck Group) – it's hardly surprising that so many BC fans love the 1973 debut "Spectrum". It opens with a giggling call to arms and a count-In - before launching into the rapido fusion of "Quadrant 4" – the Remaster kicking like a mule. His speaker-to-speaker drumming fills the restless "Searching For The Right Door" and the band goes into Jazz-Funk overdrive/solo city with the title track "Spectrum". It's not surprising that he returned to the speed-freak guitar pyrotechnics of "Taurian Matador" for the European live album issued in 1975 – it's a showstopper if not a tad indulgent. Personally I prefer the trippy "Stratus" over on Side 2 and the sexy hip-swivelling funky chug of "Red Baron" – the kind of Jazz-Funk instrumental you wish was on a 12" single and not the compromised grooves of the last track on Side 2. "Spectrum" is a really good album then, but there was better to come...

Probably his most popular LP amongst Soul kids looking for that Seventies funky edge - the 1974 masterwork that is "Crosswinds" is an out-and-out period gem. When you listen to the very Crusaders fast-Funk of "The Pleasant Pheasant" with Randy Brecker letting rip on that Saxophone before George Duke comes in and synth-warbles those notes to the breakneck end – you understand why Cobham's brand of Jazz Fusion was commercial/accessible to so many and not just virtuoso musicians noodling to please themselves. In fact when Atlantic/Warner-UK started their "Right On!" series of CD reissues dealing with Break Beats and Grooves from the WEA label vaults – they chose the sexy Funk of "Crosswinds" to represent their opening salvo. The eight and half minutes of the mellow "Heather" is a slow vibes and keyboards smoocher that feels like a Jazz Funk love song without words. And clocking in at 17:29 minutes - the four-part "Sound Portrait" on Side 1 called "Spanish Moss" is probably the most overtly Jazz piece on the record with my fave piece being the super-chilled vibes of "Savannah The Serene" which feels like The Mahavishnu Orchestra on mood-enhancing mushrooms. 

"Total Eclipse" is probably the most 'out there' and Fusion of his early catalogue, so the wild guitar-in-a-hurry of "Solarization" might not be for the faint of rhythm - but things soon settle into groove-thang territory with the title track "Total Eclipse" - all that keyboard Funk bolstered up with wads of brass and wind. "Moon Germs" is the same only with more guitar backbeat and a wicked Bass passage as the boys solo off of each other. The live set took the "Crosswinds" band on the road and introduced two new lengthy numbers - "Shabazz" and "Tenth Pinn" - both excellent on what is a forgotten and underrated album. BC goes all Orangutan wanna-be-like-you for the cleverly titled "A Funky Thide Of Sings" LP. Highlights include a big Production synth-and-horns Funk whig-out in the shape of the suitably titled "Panhandler" whist over nine-minutes of "A Funky Side Of Things" over on Side 2 will be enough to keep most toe-tappers in drum-solo heaven for weeks on end. 

The Panamanian Drummer and Writer would make other albums for Atlantic in the late 70ts and continues to record to this day - 2019 seeing the legendary "Crosswinds" LP from 1974 returned to on CD in the "Time Lapse Photos" album while his latest from 2020 "Tierra Del Fuego" references Argentinian influences. 

Not all masterpieces for damn sure, but when Billy Cobham got Funky (as is evidenced so many times across these five albums), it was time to us to shabazz. Perhaps time for us to cross those winds once again too...

"Anthology" by GEORGE BENSON – Album Tracks from 1964 to 1998 – Guest Musicians include [Guitars] Jay Graydon, Earl Klugh, Lee Ritenour, Phil Upchurch, Lonnie Smith [Keyboards] Jorge Dalto, Herbie Hancock, Ronnie Foster, David Paich, Jimmy Smith [Horns and Wind] Count Basie Orchestra, Frank Foster, Hubert Laws, Stanley Turrentine, Stan Webb [Bass] Stanley Banks, Ron Carter, Marcus Miller, Pops Popwell of The Crusaders [Drums and Percussion] Billy Cobham, Steve Gadd, Harvey Mason, Ralph McDonald, Airto Moreira, Andy Newmark, Jeff Porcaro of Toto, Narada Michael Walden [Lead and Backing Vocals] Patti Austin, Aretha Franklin, James Taylor, Cecil and Linda Womack [Producers/Arrangers/Writers] Brother Jack McDuff Quartet, Rudy Van Gelder, Creed Taylor, Quincy Jones, Tommy LiPuma, Arif Mardin and Rod Temperton (October 2000 UK and EUROPE Warner Archives/Rhino 2CD Anthology of Remasters Covering 1964 to 1998 – Bill Inglot and Dan Hersch Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With 284 Others Is Available In My

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites

HIGHER GROUND 
70ts Soul, R'n'B, Funk, Jazz Fusion
Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters  

Just Click Below To Purchase for £6.95

Thousands of E-Pages - All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs 

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

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"...Livin' Inside Your Love..."

In January 2021 as I write this – the double-CD "Anthology" by GEORGE BENSON is over 20-years old and can be found online for as little as two quid in some places. I'd argue that's an astonishing Remastered bargain bag of Soul and Jazz Funk goodies way too good to ignore.

There is a lot of breezes and give me the nights and living inside your love and eyes and 20/20 visions to get through – so once more unto the guitar fret and swivel hip breach my good peeps of planet Funkerton...

UK and EUROPE released October 2000 - "Anthology" by GEORGE BENSON on Warner Archives/Rhino R2 79934 – 8122-79934-2 (Barcode 081227993429) is a 2CD Set of Album-Track Remasters covering 1964 to 1998 that plays out as follows: 

CD1 (77:37 minutes):
1. Shadow Dancers (from 1964 US LP "The New Boss Guitar Of George Benson" on Prestige PRST 7310 - with The Brother Jack McDuff Quartet)
2. Ain't That Peculiar 
3. A Foggy Day (tracks 2 and 3 from the August 1966 US LP "The Most Exciting New Guitarist On The Jazz Scene Today: It's Uptown" on Columbia CS 9325 in Stereo)
4. Ready And Able (from the January 1967 US LP "The George Benson Cookbook" on Columbia CS 9413 in Stereo by the George Benson Quartet featuring Lonnie Smith)
5. What's New (from the September 1968 US LP "Giblet Gravy" on Verve V6-8749 in Stereo)
6. Chattanooga Choo Choo (from the December 1968 US LP "Shape Of Things To Come" on A&M Records SP-3014 in Stereo)
7. White Rabbit (from the December 1971 US LP "White Rabbit" on CTI Records CTI-6015)
8. Summertime (Live) (from the November 1977 US LP "In Concert: Carnegie Hall" on CTI Records CTI-6072 with Hubert Laws)
9. Breezin' 
10. This Masquerade 
11. Shark Bite (tracks 9 to 11 from the March 1976 US LP "Breezin'" on Warner Brothers BS 2919 - No. 1 both Pop & R&B charts)
12. Nature Boy (from the January 1977 US LP "In Flight" on Warner Brothers BSK-2983)
13. The Greatest Love Of All (Single Version) (June 1977 US 45-single on Arista 0251 - album version on the Soundtrack LP to the film "The Greatest" on Arista AL-7000)
14. On Broadway (Live) (Single Version) 
15. We All Remember Wes (Live) (tracks 14 and 15 from the January 1978 US 2LP-set "Weekend In L.A." on Warner Brothers 2WB-3139 - track 14 is the 'Single Version' issued January 1978 on Warner Brothers WBS-8542, A-side)

CD2 (79:29 minutes):
1. Love Ballad (Single Version) (from the February 1979 US 2LP-set "Livin' Inside Your Love" on Warner Brothers 2BSK-3277 - the single version issued February 1979 in the USA on Warner Brothers WBS-8759, A-side)
2. Off Broadway 
3. Moody's Mood 
4. Give Me The Night (Single Version) (tracks 2 to 4 from the July 1980 US album "Give Me The Night" on Warner Brothers/Qwest HS-3453 - single version of "Give Me The Night" issued June 1980 in the USA on Warner Brothers WBS-49505, A-side)
5. Turn Your Love Around 
6. Love All The Hurt Away (with Aretha Franklin) (tracks 5 and 6 from the October 1981 US 2LP-set "The George Benson Collection" on Warner Brothers 2HW-3577)
7. Mimosa (with Jimmy Smith) (from the September 1982 Jimmy Smith US LP "Off The Top" on Elektra Musician 60175)
8. Being With You (from the May 1983 US LP on Warner Brothers 23744)
9. 20/20 
10. New Day (tracks 9 and 10 are from the December 1984 US LP "20/20" on Warner Brothers 25178)
11. Kisses In The Moonlight (Single Version) (from the August 1986 US LP "While The City Sleeps" on Warner Brothers 25475 - the 45-single edit was issued July 1986 in the USA on Warner Brothers 28640, A-side)
12. Mt. Airy Road (with Earl Klugh) (from the June 1987 US LP "Collaboration" on Warner Brothers 25580)
13. Let's Do It Again (Single Version, Curtis Mayfield cover version) (from the September 1988 US LP "Twice The Love" on Warner Brothers 25705 - single version issued July 1988 in the USA on Warner Brothers 27780, A-side)
14. Tenderly (from the July 1989 US LP "Tenderly" on Warner Brothers 25907)
15. Ready Now That You Are (with The Count Basie Orchestra) (from the September 1990 US LP "Big Boss Band" on Warner Brothers 26295)
16. The Long And Winding Road (Beatles cover) (from the Various Artists September 1995 CD Album "(I Got No Kick Against) Modern Jazz: A GRP Artists' Celebration Of The Songs Of The Beatles" on GRP GRD-9827) 
17. C-Smooth (from the June 1998 US CD Album "Standing Together" on GRP GRD-9906)

Suffice to say that as you wade through pages 42 to 46 (in a 48-page booklet), the sheer size of credits accompanying George Benson, his Guitar and Voice is bewildering and impressive to say the least. I can't list the lot, but try these as Guest Musicians and Collaborators - [Guitars] Jay Graydon, Earl Paul Jackson, Jr., Klugh, Lee Ritenour, Phil Upchurch, Lonnie Smith [Keyboards] Jorge Dalto, Herbie Hancock, Ronnie Foster, David Paich, Jimmy Smith [Horns and Wind] Count Basie Orchestra, Frank Foster, Hubert Laws, Stanley Turrentine, Stan Webb [Bass] Stanley Banks, Ron Carter, Marcus Miller, Pops Popwell of The Crusaders [Drums and Percussion] Billy Cobham, Steve Gadd, Harvey Mason, Ralph McDonald, Airto Moreira, Andy Newmark, Jeff Porcaro of Toto, Narada Michael Walden [Lead and Backing Vocals] Patti Austin, Aretha Franklin, James Taylor, Cecil and Linda Womack [Producers/Arrangers/Writers] Brother Jack McDuff Quartet, Rudy Van Gelder, Creed Taylor, Quincy Jones, Tommy LiPuma, Arif Mardin, Marty Paich and Rod Temperton - yikes! 

The Remasters are fabulous, carried out by Rhino's long-time associated Audio Engineers - BILL INGLOT and DAN HERSCH. By the time you get into the Seventies and Eighties productions on Disc 1 and 2 - your speakers are jumping and in a good way. The outer card slipcase, the 48-page colour booklet slipped into an inner card band and the gatefold digipak to hold the CDs lend the whole shebang a genuine feeling of substance. The oversized booklet compliments with arrays of album covers, photos of GB with legendary talent scout John Hammond of Columbia Records, on stage with Grover Washington, Jr., at the podium accepting an award with Tommy LiPuma - right up to a landmark snap - George with his wife Johnnie in 1996 as he is awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame where anyone who is anyone has a spot. Beautifully done, the whole lot. To the tunes... 

For most of us, we join Benson in the Seventies even though the 60ts stuff is excellent. My ears want to go to "White Rabbit" and the wonderful "Breezin'" LP in 1976 that changed everything for him. His transition like everyone else (Donald Byrd, Dexter Wansel etc) into Jazz Funk instead of straight-up Jazz proved not just popular but commercial dynamite. "Breezin'" went to Number 1 on the US R&B and 'Rock' charts - that was largely unheard of for the time. I do wish there were more tracks from the vastly underrated "Livin' Inside Your Love" double-album - a wee bit of a gem in my books - but the tunes from the stunning "Give Me The Night" including the fab Funk of "Off Broadway" are amazing - sounding like sparkly new things. His lurve credentials increasingly took over for the "In Your Eyes" and "20/20" albums where the hits became smoochers - and again extraordinary Production credentials. Great range, tunes and presentation 

George Benson unexpectedly pops up in the latest January 2021 edition of “Record Collector magazine for an interview (Page 46) talking about his huge five-decade career and an album he recorded live at Soho's Ronnie Scott's in 2019 called "Weekend In London" – a full 45-years after he first played there (it's available on Prologue Records). Reading stuff like this reminds you (and especially Soul and Funk chumps like me) of what a world-class artist he is and has been for so long. The man played alongside Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder and Minnie Riperton for God's sake – talk about dripping Soul and Jazz kudos. 

Want some quality GB in your life - then Rhino's 2CD "Anthology" is a fab and frankly frugal place to start...

"The Black-Man’s Burdon" by ERIC BURDON and WAR - December 1970 USA 2LP set on MGM/Far Out Records and January 1971 UK 2LP set on Liberty Records – also featuring Lonnie Jordon, Charles Miller, Howard Scott, and Lee Oskar in War with Guest Vocalist Sharon Scott (May 1993, Reissued January 1996, UK/EUROPE ARG Records/BMG Reissue – 2LPs Remastered onto 2CDs) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Beautiful New Born Child..."

Talk about a forgotten double-album – and its politics. Released Stateside first just 3 days before Christmas 1970 on MGM/Far Out Records (Blighty would have to wait until Liberty Records put it out in January 1971) – the urge-to-splurge 2LP set "The Black-Man's Burdon" was frankly a bit of a beautiful if unwieldy beast. Radical for its time, the initial 30,000 copies of British twofer vinyl sets even elicited censorship in the UK when the spoken poem-piece "P.C. 3" (Track 5 on Side 1) was deemed riot-incendiary because of naughty HRH Queenie references and therefore had that unholy sin of self-expression excluded from the subsequent 20,000 copies pressed (what a palavar). 

A wild combo of originals and extended cover versions where some songs are 2:43 minutes long, while others stretch to 14-minutes and seven parts, 8-minutes, seven-minutes and so on - Eric Burdon and the seven-piece band War were continuing their Rock-Funk meets Soul meets Jazz meets Blues journey with this adventurous and ambition double-whammy. 

Experimental, Rock-Soulful and even Progtastic in some instrumental passages – big things were expected of the release – especially following as it did on the heels of the catchy "Spill The Wine" 45 from their April 1970 debut "Eric Burdon Declares "War"" that had managed a huge No. 4 chart position. But the sheer size and wild nature of what was on offer proved maybe a step too far-out for the public and radio – the 2LP set limping into the US album charts in late December 1970. It eventually peaked at No. 83 and five or six weeks later, quickly disappeared (as did Burdon's fractious relationship with MGM Records where he felt they weren't behind it enough). 

By the end of 1971 - and after a controversial tour of the UK where the British Establishment made it apparent that they were not too pleased with the double's references to Her Majesty in a not so warm-and-fuzzy light – EB and War had parted (only to be reunited years later). Subsequently, five decades of secondhand record shop rack trawling by music lovers seeking something new or maybe different, has seen the 2LP-set become something of an underground darling – an ahead-of-its-racial-times gob at the powers-that-be. Soul-Rock fans love BMB and speak of it in hushed tones, while samplers dig into its sexy rhythms and look reference-cool as they do so. 

The history of "The Black-Man's Burdon" far-out journey on digital is a strangely muted one too. Even in January 2021, an astonishing 50 years after the event – the best 2CD version is not from the 00s or 10s or 20s – but dating all the way back to the reissue halcyon days of Rhino in the early Nineties. Here are the pretty colors for u...

UK released May 1993 (reissued January 1996) - "The Black-Man's Burdon" by ERIC BURDON and WAR on ARG Records/BMG 74321 30742 2 (Barcode 743213074221) offers the US 1970 Double-Album (1971 UK) Remastered onto 2CDs and breaks down as follows: 

CD1 (44:39 minutes): 
1. Paint It Black Medley [Side 1]
(a) Black On Black In Black
(b) Paint It Black I
(c) Laurel & Hardy 
(d) Pintelo Negro II
(e) P.C. 3 
(f) Black Bird 
(g) Paint It Black III
2. Spirit 
3. Beautiful New Born Child [Side 2]
4. Nights In White Satin I
5. The Bird & The Squirrel 
6. Nuts, Seeds & Life 
7. Out Of Nowhere 
8. Nights In White Satin II 
Track 1 is a Rolling Stones cover except Parts (c) to (f) which are War songs; Track 3 features Sharon Scott and The Beautiful New Born Children of Southern California; Tracks 4 and 8 are Moody Blues covers 

CD2 (45:48 minutes):
1. Sun/Moon [Side 3]
2. Pretty Colors 
3. Gun
4. Jimbo
5. Bare Back Ride [Side 4]
6. Home Cookin' 
7. They Can't Take Away Our Music 
Track 7 features Sharon Scott and The Beautiful New Born Children of Southern California

"The Black-Man's Burdon" was released December 1970 in the USA on MGM/Far Out Records SE-4710-2 and January 1971 in the UK on Liberty Records LDS 84003/4 as a 2LP set in both countries. Produced by JERRY GOLDSTEIN – it peaked at No. 82 in the USA (didn't chart UK). All tracks written by War - excepting "Beautiful New Born Child" and "They Can't Take Away Our Music" - which were written by Jerry Goldstein and War. "Paint it Black" and "Nights In White Satin" are cover versions of Rolling Stones and Moody Blues songs.

WAR was: 
ERIC BURDON – Lead Vocals
LONNIE JORDON – Organ, Piano and Vocals 
HOWARD SCOTT – Guitar and Vocal 
LEE OSKAR – Harmonica and Vocal 
CHARLES MILLER – Tenor, Baritone and Alto Saxophones and Flute
B.B. DICKERSON – Bass and Vocal
DEE ALLEN – Conga, Percussion, Vocal 
HAROLD BROWN – Drums 
Guest: 
Sharon Scott and The Beautiful New Born Children of Southern California sing on "Beautiful New Born Child" and "They Can't Take Away Our Music"

Long-standing Rhino/Atlantic Audio Engineers BILL INGLOT and KEN PERRY did the Remasters from first generation tapes and the Audio is punchy and full (the US version was released 4 May 1993 is on Rhino R2 71193 - Barcode 081227119324). There is a later reissue of this but it hasn't got the booklet - nor has it any improvement in Audio. 

The six-leaf double-sized foldout inlay could be described as functionary at best. The two naked ladies laying on grass alongside other seven African-American nature man-children in the background (the band War) which adorned the inner gatefold sleeve of the original double vinyl album is reproduced on two leaves as is a band photo from the period. But the cool 'Official War Bond One Dollar Bill' (shaped like a dollar) that also came with originals is AWOL. With it, you could get $1 discount upon the purchase of two tickets to any Eric Burdon and War gig up to 31 December 1973 – even though he'd disembarked by then and they simply become WAR. There are the usual credits in black and white and BARRY ALFONSO does a great job with the liner notes that include new interviews with Burdon about the songs and their processes. A rear inlay on the British/EC issue lists and pictures the WAR Masters reissue catalogue (see list below). To the music...

In a bold move, MGM took the full-length 6:50-minute version of Side 4's "They Can't Take Our Music Away" with Sharon Scott on Vocals and put it out as the lead American 45-single. December 1970's MGM K-14196 had the full cut of "Home Cookin'" on its flipside and rewarded the band with a No. 50 placing. The British variant from January 1971 on Liberty LBF 15434 had a 4:50 minutes edit with the same B-side, but it sank without a trace and I can count on one hand the number of times I have seen that Liberty Records 45 anywhere in my fifty years of digging tunes and vinyl. 

Side 1 opens with the 13:34-minute cover of "Paint It Black” – the Stones cover turning up three times amidst the original bits – the second of which is sung as "Pintelo Negro". I have to admit that this too-long opener tests my patience nowadays. One hundred times sexier is 8:39 minutes of "Spirit" – a warbling guitar and drum opening explodes into a great Rock-Funk groove – an always on my mind tune that has the band cooking (why was this not single number two in edit form?). Dig that Lee Oskar harmonica too. 

Side 2 sees Sharon Scott make the first of two appearances on duet/crowd Vocals with Eric as "Beautiful New Born Child" comes slinking out of your speakers. A groove – a vibe – the pounding song is the sort of five minutes they probably made up in the studio (I think it is Sharon pictured on the rear sleeve sat atop EB). They then take "Nights In White Satin” and for the first version – slow it right down to a Soul ballad pace – but I find his vocals are forced even if the backing music is fab. We then 2:44 minutes of Flute-Cool – an instrumental with Congas and strummed acoustics called "The Bird & The Squirrel" where War feel Santana good – such a superb groove. Stunning Bass audio on "Nuts, Seeds & Life" – another shuffling percussion number that solo-instrumentals its way to the finish line. You could call it fluff or filler – but I dig it (teeny bit hissy in the transfer). Part 2 of "Nights In White Satin" feels more Soulful that its predecessor. 

For me the second LP confirms the album's greatness far more than the first. Side 3's "Sun/Moon" is a 10-minute slow Jazz-Rock shuffle – Eric and the boys sounding like a cross between a mellow John Mayall circa "Blues From Laurel Canyon" meeting with Miles Davis rehearsing for "A Kind Of Blue". Things pick up the Funky pace big time with the fantastic "Pretty Colors" where Lonnie Jordan suddenly explodes out of the speakers with his piano fills accompanied by seductive Sax jabs from Charles Miller – Eric talking about ladies with a skin tone he loves (probably my fave track on the album). If any song on "The Black-Man's Burdon" double-album was to convince you that War and EB were on to a very special groove and their own sound – then this near seven-minutes of uber-cool is it. Razorblades, switchblades and your handguns – Eric and the boys want you to ditch the lot in "Gun" – urging the street kids to not inflict any more tears. That brilliance is topped off with "Jimbo" – a Funky as James Brown's underarms chugger that once again benefits from a wicked groove, Lonnie Jordan's naturally fluid piano playing and Oscar's harmonica jabs.

Side 4 opens with a bit of ZZ Top "La Grange" guitar before "Bare Back Ride" kicks 

in proper – yet another foot-stomper that feels like Traffic have been listening to Sly and The Family Stone as Eric sings "...don't blow it baby!" Filled with fantastic soloing from Miller on Sax and Oscar on Harp – "Bare Back Ride" is just so typically hip it hurts. Our hero joined the Navy at the age of 17 but he misses Mama and her "Home Cookin'", while the mighty twofer comes to a dignified Gospel-feeling end with "They Can't Take Away Our Music" – a proud and pure cry from deep within for racial equality – no colour – no skin divide. Nice...

These 1993 and 1996 double-CD releases have been deleted decades and can cost up to thirty quid on the open market (I got mine for a reasonable fifteen-ish, so hunt around). But for sheer hutzpah, melt of styles and sound discovery - like so many of their forgotten albums - this is a blast from the past you will want to feel the heat of again and again...

WAR Masters CD Reissues for the UK/EUROPE

1. Eric Burdon Declares "War" (April 1970 US LP)
1995 CD on ARG Records/BMG 74321 30526 2 (Barcode 743213052625)

2. The Black-Man's Burdon (December 1970 US 2LP-set)
May 1993 2CDs on ARG Records/BMG 74321 30742 2 (Barcode 743213074221)

3. War (March 1971 US LP)
May 1993 CD on ARG Records/BMG 74321 30737 2 (Barcode 743213073729)

4. All Day Music (November 1971 US LP)
1995 CD on ARG Records/BMG 74321 30520 2 (Barcode 743213052028)

5. The World Is A Ghetto (November 1972 US LP)
1992 CD on ARG Records/BMG 74321 30521 2 (Barcode 743213052120)

6. Deliver The War (August 1973 US LP) 
1992 CD on ARG Records/BMG 74321 30522 2 (Barcode 743213052229)

7. War Live! (March 1974 US 2LP set) 
1992 2CD on ARG Records/BMG 74321 30730 2 (Barcode 743213073026)

8. Why Can't We Be Friends? (June 1975, with "Low Rider")
1992 CD on ARG Records/BMG 74321 30523 2 (Barcode 743213052328)

9. Love Is All Around – ERIC BURDON and WAR (December 1976) 
May 1993 2CDs on ARG Records/BMG 74321 30743 2 (Barcode 743213074320)

10. Platinum Jazz (July 1977, 2LP Set, New Material On LP1, Old Material on LP2)
May 1993 CD on ARG Records/BMG 74321 30524 2 (Barcode 743213052427)

11. Galaxy (November 1977 US LP)
January 1996 CD on ARG Records/BMG 74321 30739 2 (Barcode 743213073927)

12. Youngblood – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (August 1978 US LP)
January 1996 CD on ARG Records/BMG 74321 30735 2 (Barcode 743213073521)

13. Outlaw (March 1982 US LP)
January 1996 CD on ARG Records/BMG 74321 30734 2 (Barcode 743213073428)

14. Life (Is So Strange) (July 1983 US LP) 
January 1996 CD on ARG Records/BMG 74321 30738 2 (Barcode 743213073828)