Customer Reviews

Funky 16 Corners

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Egon and Peanut Butter Wolf bring it with this excellent compilation of long-out-of-print funk tunes, late 60's through mid 70's. How'd they do it? Well, they drove cross-country to hang with the greats and go bowling, and unearthed what you're looking at now...

Instrumentals, upkey stuff, positivity, the shout-along proto-hip hop, 'What About You,' I disagree with one of the reviwers below- the material here is all top-notch. PLUS, the chances of finding these GEMS on original vinyl or 45- well, you ain't got a chance in this hell or any other, basically. So be thankful, be damn thankful, because damn near each and every track is sucker punch of funk fo yo nads.

Great liner-notes by Egon. The whole thing fulfills. The pentultimate track ny Cut Chemist, 'Bunky's Pick,' takes you back through the wax as he mixes it up like no other. Full of wholesome funky goodness!

I've spun it over 25 times and i never get sick of this disc. One of those great ablums to put on at a party. Just like The Avalanches's "Since I Left you", it will get you up and moving.
It has it all: hard funk, smooth soul funk, jazz funk, instrumentals, shout-outs, anti-drug anthems, positive ghetto jams, and every kind of post-JB funk you can imagine-- seventy-plus minutes, all recorded between 1968 and 1974. If you checked out and like'd DJ Shadows comp "SCHOOLHOUSE FUNK", you'll love this one. One of the greatest funk comps ever. More energy then you can stand, by the last track you'll collapse.

Stand out track's: Tighten Up Tighter, Southside Funk, Trespasser (by Bad Medicine, a bunch of white guys from upstate New York), and The Funky Buzzard. But really it's all great

While this may not be the best funk album out there (there seems to be some disagreement in the reviews below), I think it's a must-own for anyone that's looking for some funk they haven't heard before. The songs are a little lo-fi, and their structures tend to be slightly looser and jazzier than the prototype set forth by James Brown, without ever losing vitality or becoming needlessly long or repetitive like the Meters and Maceo Parker sometimes do.

Make no mistake, this is rump-shakin' stuff that will have people at your next party asking you what's playing. Also, the liner notes, which detail the process of uncovering these lost classics, are priceless. The only reason I give this four stars instead of five is that many of the songs lack strong hooks. They more than make up for it with deep grooves, but those who like sing-alongs (like "I Feel Good") might feel a little short-changed.

This is one of those wonderful collections of Little-known soul that the Brits at Kent records usually do a good job of compiling, but this time some Americans knew what time it was and dug up some regional and unknown goodies in their own back yards.

"Dap Walk" is a wonderfully funky and catchy tune (reminds one a little of SOULFUL STRUT by Young Holt Unlimited) that one could imagine as background music to a soul Dj rapping (in the old sense of the term) or reading announcements on a Black radio station in the late 60s or early 70s. Speaking of Rap, we get some early examples of that in the title cut, which is percisely that- a person talking in semi-rhyme on the mike at what appears to be a live party, and "What About You in the Wolrd Today," a positive motivational rap 5 years before the Sugarhill Gang.

"Go To Work" is funky and amusing, and "Tighten Up Tighter" could be dismissed as a copy of the Archie Bell and the Drells Classic, but is actually quite good on its own and truly captures the more positive spirit of Black America in 1968. In fact, I know Cary Butler, who wrote and song on one of these tunes. He's a preacher now, so I have to tell him I heard this!

Rap producers would die to sample some of the grooves here, and these tunes could still pack dance floors even if most audiences aren't familiar with this songs. Get it and love it!

Groups like this may at one time have been a dime a dozen (JBs/Archie Bell/Jr. Walker/Fatback Band type copy funk acts with slick rhythm guitar, punchy horns, funky fatback drums and very big afros I'm sure) but now they ain't a dime a dozen - - and odds are you've never heard most the stuff on this album. I suspect a lot of these groups may have had a hit or two on their (very) local scenes,then faded into obscurity... before doing so, collectively they did make magic... The KICKER on the album definitey has to be the LAST POETS-ish ultra jivey "jump rope" type rhyme "But What About You" thang... And while some of the recordings might sound a bit lo-fi on the surface, I have to say, this compilation is well worth it... Its raw STREET FUNK like you've never heard... As an example take THE KASHMERE STAGE BAND or ERNIE AND THE TOP NOTES... I'm sure they offered no threat to Archie Bell OR JBs - - but then again, you gotta admit, who did? The stuff is kicking nonetheless... And there are plenty of other tunes that are ultra, slick, Jazzy, jivey and funky... almost something you'd expect to hear in one of those clubs that would pop up in those old Rudy Ray Moore films.

All in all, more and more compilations like this are showing up. You might argue that they all sound the same, but you know something... I think a lot of these compilation reissues are SPOILING us funkahaulics... because there was a time that ALL funk (including most The Meters, Funkadelic and even most of JB's stuff from the 70s) was virtually lost and out of print. Well not only are they back, but people are hunting down the 45's too.

My answer... keep 'em comin' bro's... I'm game.

(P.S. Correction... Fish Head by Slim and The Soulful Saints may have made Maceo sweat a bit... *just* a bit...)

...and the artists featured all got paid. Never has a funk compilation been treated with so much care, and the artists handed back the respect they deserve.

From the inlay booklet: "Over the past year, we've worked exhaustively to prepare a fully licensed compilation that will help explain the musical stories of sixteen American funk legends. We've tracked down photos, run master reels, annotated sessions and negotiated a fair deal for all those involved. All so that you can finally catch a glimpse into the lives and times of the musicians that helped inform the funk movement."

But the package is second only to the music featured here. Topped and tailed by an intro and outro by Herb Miller's Ebony Rhythm Band and featuring a nice cut-up piece by Cut Chemist at the end, this covers some of the nicest, fattest, rarest (some unreleased) and above all the best of US Funk.

Buy it buy it buy it, I can't recommend this enough. Your CD player will love you for the rest of your life.

Favourite tracks:

Spider Harrison: Beautiful Day.
The man ain't kiddin. This is funk how I like it - a shuffling shambles of a track in a similar vein to Express Yourself. Only better.

Billy Ball and The Upsetters: Tighten Up Tighter.
The Upsetters sound like they couldn't get to the end of this tune fast enough. The most up-tempo upbeat track on the CD by a long shot, this one is perfectly offset by Roosevelt Matthews over-excitable vocal.

Revolution Compared to What: Go To Work.
Listed as an 'alternative version' (as if any of us have the original) this is the laid back funk number you expect from a tune that starts out with a man snoring. Has a personal resonance for the terminally unemployed in a way 'If You Don't Work, You Can't Eat' never will.

Bubbha Thomas and The Lightmen Plus One: The Phantom.
Spooky funk, and so chilled. Like the tune from Mario Kart's ghost levels re-recorded by the Breakestra.

This is a good compiliation of late 60'2-early 70's funk. There are some strong moments, but it's not a must have cd. Most of the songs are in the James Brown style, plus there are a few decent covers. Super Funk is a much better compiliation, as is 45 Kings. I would recommend this cd for someone that likes funk and wants to enjoy a solid, if un-essential cd.

Just a short note to indicate my pleasure with this compilation - there's some really good funk on this set. You probably need this.

This is a great collection of late 60 and early 70s funk classics. This is a must buy for anyone into funk and necessary listening for any DJ. These tracks are the fundamental roots of hip-hop and rap. Produced by Egon and Peanut Butter Wolf (one of the greatest hip hop producers and beat manufacturers) and released on stones throw records (which produced the highly acclaimed hip hop/jazz album- Quasimoto's The Unseen). Simply, the funky 16 corners captures some of the greatest funk ever recorded. Buy this album. Buy it now. Don't wait. Buy it now.

That's all it took. Let's make this album platinum or some other precious metal. Every song is margarine.