Customer Reviews

BAY AREA FUNK [Vinyl]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you like Blaxpliotation era soundtracks and seventies funk that's the illegitimate stepbrothers of James Brown and Charles Wright's Watts 103rd Street Band, then this is for you. The flipside of silky Philly Soul, this is raw, funky, ghetto music that will remind you of inner-city Black America circa 1972 even if you've never left Iowa or were born far too late to catch it the first time around. Some tunes in particular are very crudely recorded even by the standards of the time, but this adds to the charm. Rappers and Dj's in particular will love this, as it is filled with Bomb beats to pump up the volume that they deservedly crave. Oh yeah, "Funky Driver on a Funky Bus" is as much fun as it's title indicates. Just don't cuss the driver like the character in the song. Enjoy.

In the huge pile of CDs featuring early funk out there this is easily one of the best. It features artists from the Bay area of San Francisco recorded at the same time as psychedelia was flourishing in the inner city (late 60's/early 70's). Some of the tracks show that influence and are all the fresher for it. For me this stuff is much more accessible 30 odd years later than the acid rock of the same period. It's ironic that the funk of San Francisco was focused on short, tight tracks while the rock drifted into meaningless jams. Later in the 70's both would be making the move into excessive, more is less territory, but at the time these tracks were waxed it was obvious that the rhythm was treated as a short injection rather than a prolonged treatment. Having said that, the stand out track is actually the longest on the CD (What is it? by the Appollis), but every track is a winner. There is also a complilation of Texas funk out there which is a monster as well. Get em.

In a time when you had some serious hard working and struggling bands with raw pure funk and soul it dont get better than this
classic stuff here , and to be a part of it as i watch my father contribute to it as a sax player with the new breed and the natrual four this is some classic funk at its best !!!

As the liner notes put it, Johnny Otis protege Sugar Pie DeSanto ("Git Back") doesn't "take no stuff from no one!" Then there's 12-year-old Little Denise ("Check Me Out") who's "got her thing together." Just add a few horns, a touch of flute, some blues guitar, a whole lotta earth-shakin' bass, and that describes all the other funketeers on this fine compilation. "Bay Area Funk" proves that Sly and the Family Stone and Tower of Power were just the tip of the Bay Area's iceberg o' funk. Archival label Luv & Haight, which takes their name from a song by the Family Stone, has put together a tasty collection of rare sides from 1967-1976 that includes reminiscences from historians and DJs, lively bios, and lapel-popping pics. A must for the funk aficionado.

Collecting funk comps can be tricky. The good ones are not cheap, and when you get into deep funk--unknowns who did a 45 in the 1960 or 70s-you never know what you are buying

But Bay Area Funk is top of the line. It has basic funk and some blues and jazz funk.

Funk is a strict genre, but there are regional differances. For this Bay Area Comp, the horns are thicker, the beats a little jazzer, and the guitars have a bit more of an edge. How much this was a result of the acid rock scene in San Fransisco at the time, I am not sure.

But I am sure every track on here is killer, and if you are a beginner or a hard core crate digger, you simply cannot go wrong with this, or the second volume of this set.

I have no idea why, but I got V2 before V1... loved V2 to pieces... but V1 really rises above the crowd of recent rare funk compilation compilation... whereas V2 is the well worth getting sequel.

As for the sound: Booty shaking late 60's to early '70s East Bay street funk... Tower of Power fans will hear their roots (but not TOP itself) full force... This is obviously the sound they were molding their sound after during their EAST BAY GREASE and BUMP CITY era... COLD BLOOD too were obviously picking up the vibes like too... and if you like this album, I'd definitely suggest getting them.

As for the album overall:
No throw-away tracks... its a straight through listen. Great horns, tight beats, wicked bass lines and great soul shouting... Sound quality (remastering?): exceptional... Tracks all well recorded (i.e. this is not low budget garage funk.) - - Also, though their is a definitely a distinct East Bay sound present, not all of the tracks sound the same... each has its own thing going on... though I found something particularly infectious about FIND YOURSELF...

East Bay style production is quite interesting: The wicked bite and vibe of the rare urban funk of the era is there, however, instrumental and production quality are really good... which is what actually makes this compilation stand out over a number of other funk compilations I've been raving about lately...

After taking this trip to SF, be sure to fly down to Florida and check out FLORIDA FUNK which, though not as consistent, has plenty of tracks that belong right side these !