Funkologie Crew Sensations Vol.2

A collaboration with our amazing moderators of the Funkologie Facebook group

A collaboration with our moderators from our Facebook group. With this team we could build a small but nice group posting top entries in Funk and Soul. The team consists of Anne McMahon, Guillaume Clémondont, Salim Srour, Tourpas Ioannis and the Cupatee Selecta Denis Richner. Many thanks to our crew for their support!
Michel from Funkologie

If you like good music join simply the group!

Fuga A Cavallo

My Kind of Sunshine – Dieter Reith
Dieter Reith was organist in Peter Herbolzheimer’s RHYTHM COMBINATION & BRASS from 1970 to 1976. From 1971 to 1973 he played piano in the orchestra Kurt Edelhagen (WDR). After moving to Stuttgart in 1973, he led the SWR Big Band and the SWR Radio Orchestra for numerous productions.

I Want to Be – Elias Rahbani and His Orchestra
Elias was Musical Advisor for Recordings (Radio Lebanon) 1962-1972 and Chief of the occidental Music Section (Radio Lebanon).

Living for the City – Ramsey Lewis
Pianist and composer Ramsey Lewis has been a major figure in contemporary jazz since the late ’50s, playing music with a warm, open personality that’s allowed him to cross over to the pop and R&B charts.
“Living for the City” is on the album “Sun Goddess” from 1974.

Hollywood or Bust – Sébastien Blanchon, Emmanuel Maree, Ugly Mac Beer
An imaginary soundtrack inspired by movies and series from the 60s and 70s. 14 songs recorded live, composed by Sébastien Blanchon (trumpet, fender rhodes, hammond organ, clavinet, korg) and Emanuel Marée (drums, guitar, bass, percussion) then in addition a horn session. Each track illustrates scenes of pursuit, deal, investigation worthy of the greatest films of the time. An album which will undoubtedly delight fans of funk and rare groove.

You Got The Power – War
Funk group that started life in the early 1970s in Southern California, They formed out of the ashes of an earlier R&B covers group, The Creators (who also recorded as The Romeos and Señor Soul), initially naming themselves Nightshift before producer Jerry Goldstein discovered them and gave them a more distinctive name.

A Step Ahead – 9th Creation
Formed in 1970, Stockton, California as Soul Struts, later becoming 3rd Creation and finally 9th Creation.

It’s Just Begun – The Jimmy Castor Bunch
American soul/funk/disco group with an occasional latin touch. Led by Jimmy Castor, also featuring Gerry Thomas who was at the same time member of The Fatback Band.

If You Think Your God Is Dead – Spiritual Four
Do It Funky – Len Woods

You – Shirley Scott, The Soul Saxes
“Shirley Scott and the Soul Saxes” finds the organist on a 1969 set of mostly soul covers. This was one of her few dates for the soul-heavy Atlantic label, but it certainly qualifies as a standout in the entire soul-jazz catalog. Joined by the royal sax trio of David Newman, King Curtis, and Hank Crawford, Scott plies her smooth, yet deep B-3 alchemy atop a stellar rhythmic pulse supplied by Chuck Rainey, Bernard “Pretty” Purdie and Richard Tee.

Dig On It – Jimmy McGriff
One of the all-time giants of the Hammond B-3, Jimmy McGriff sometimes gets lost amid all the great soul-jazz organists from his hometown of Philadelphia. He was almost certainly the bluesiest of the major soul-jazz pioneers, and indeed, he often insisted that he was more of a blues musician than a jazz artist; nonetheless, he remained eclectic enough to blur the lines of classification.

You Got the Stuff – Bill Withers
To find on 1978’s “‘Bout Love”. Bill Withers collaborated with keyboardist/arranger/songwriter Paul Smith on this engaging set issued. Still Bill offers his usual mellowness and down-home sincerity.

What’s Up Front That Counts – The Counts
Shortchanged by Westbound records in favor of the Ohio Players and Funkadelic, the Counts were a good band that didn’t hang around long enough to sniff gold. “Rhythm Changes” dropped as a single while this LP, their first, incubated. The credit read “the Fabulous Counts,” but by time the album emerged, they were simply the Counts.

This House Is Smokin’ – B.T. Express
Do It (‘Til You’re Satisfied) features two million sellers by the New York natives; the title track and “Express” are funky, irresistible disco gems. Produced by Jeff Lane and mixed by Tom Moulton, the two dancefloor classics features hypnotic basslines, handclaps on alternate beats, and the coolest congas on the planet, all combined with masterfully mixed guitars, saxophones, flutes, strings, Barbara Joyce Lomas‘ blaring lead, Louis Risbrooks’ bass vocal retorts, and Richard Thompson‘s support vocals.

The Looser – Black Sugar
Black Sugar is a funky Latin-rock band from Peru, mercifully reissued for a latter-day audience by Lazarus Audio Products. “The Looser” is hip, but lyrics on the corny side keep them from heavy play. The Album is from 1971.

Fuga A Cavallo – Ennio Morricone
R:I:P

Black Night – Daniel Janin, Jean Claude Pierric

Plastic Man – The Temptations
A stepping, handclapping tell-all about an unscrupulous flim-flam man with Dennis Edwards, Richard Street and Melvin Franklin handling the lead lines of a Norman Whitfield creation that first appeared on Masterpiece. Easily, one of the most dominant songs of that set, Motown released it as a single the summer of 1973.

Goo Goo Wah Wah – Wah Wah Watson
Another prolific session guitarist well respected by musicians but generally unknown to the listening public, Melvin Ragin, aka Wah Wah Watson, played on countless sessions. Born in Richmond, Virginia in December 1950, Ragin/Watson moved to Detroit and became a member of the Motown label’s legendary studio band known as the Funk Brothers.

He played with and/or contributed material to the recordings of the Temptations, the Jackson 5, the Supremes, the Four Tops, and Gladys Knight & the Pips as well as Michael Jackson among many others. He died in Santa Monica, California in October 2018 at the age of 67.

The Playlist

1. My Kind of Sunshine – Dieter Reith
2. I Want to Be – Elias Rahbani and His Orchestra
3. Living for the City – Ramsey Lewis
4. Hollywood or Bust – Sébastien Blanchon, Emmanuel Maree, Ugly Mac Beer
5. You Got The Power – War
6. A Step Ahead – 9th Creation
7. It’s Just Begun – The Jimmy Castor Bunch
8. If You Think Your God Is Dead – Spiritual Four
9. Do It Funky – Len Woods
10. You – Shirley Scott, The Soul Saxes
11. Dig On It – Jimmy McGriff
12. You Got the Stuff – Bill Withers
13. What’s Up Front That Counts – The Counts
14. This House Is Smokin’ – B.T. Express
15. The Looser – Black Sugar
16. Fuga A Cavallo – Ennio Morricone
17. Black Night – Daniel Janin, Jean Claude Pierric
18. Plastic Man – The Temptations
19. Goo Goo Wah Wah – Wah Wah Watson

A collaboration with our amazing moderators of the Funkologie Facebook group. by Funkologie on Mixcloud