In what I hope becomes a weekly sort of exercise, I will be dedicating some time and energy to let you all know where I get some of my best cuts. I'm doing it so that you can build your own foundations to expand your own musical repertoires. I'll do this by hipping y'all to one of the best resources available to music diggers; the compilation.
We all know what a compilation is, but it can be easy to forget how useful they can be. A good compilation can integrate a whole bunch of artist in line with a theme, a sound or simply a vibe, one that can open whole new avenues of discovery. This week, I found one myself and since I'm the author of this here blog, I want to tell you how fresh it is.
Just released this past June on the re-issue label Light In The Attic Records, Country Funk 1969-1975 is exactly what it implies. Granted the 'country' part is a lil different given that it's all about the late 60's and early 70's sound that country music used to be, and the funk in question is more 60's than the 70's disco-funk around, but these are all good things. In fact, at the end of the day, much of the material compiled here feels like a precursor to the Southern-rock sound of The Allman Brothers Band.
Gritz "Bayou Country"
Bobby Charles "Street People"
Rock guitars wend around back-beats loping along tempoes that would later be favoured by hip hop producers. Lyrically, the themes are definitely country-style, but then those themes aren't really as different as the ones taken on by Southern soul musicians, who were the backbone of funk in the first place. As with any compilation exploring scenes that ever existed on the margins of the mainstream, vintage or otherwise, there are plenty of lesser known names like: John Randolph Marr, Dennis The Fox or Cherokee. But to my own surprise, there were a few I knew like Link Wray, Tony Joe White or Bobbie Gentry.
Tony Joe White "Stud Spider"
Bobbie Gentry "He Made A Woman Out Of Me"
Overall, I'd recommend this release pretty highly as a primer for the whole country funk / deep Southern Rock sound. Fans of classic rock should love the depth of these waters and I definitely recommend this!
Link Wray "Fire And Brimstone"
Cherokee "Funky Business"
