Customer Reviews

Golden Classics Edition

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This album is an unbelievable find. I came across it accidentally via the "ACTION" Volume of the FREE SOUL (no relation) rare soul music compilation while living in Japan. That volume happened to be one of my favorite and of all the tracks SO MUCH TROUBLE IN MY MIND definitely stood above a CD of solidly smoking syncopated funk soul grooves. - - Prior to hearing the tune on that album, I had heard Charles Kynard cover it on his (now out of print) YO MOMMA DON'T DANCE ALBUM, but was not familiar with Joe Quarterman & Free Soul. - - After I heard the tune, I was so impressed, I was ecstatic to find a CD with his tunes on the shelves at a record store in Shibuya... and what REALLY surprized me was that as funky as SO MUCH TROUBLE is, there are actually funkier tunes on the compilation... take THE TROUBLE WITH TROUBLE and THE WAY THEY DO MY LIFE for example.... yet if you've ever heard SO MUCH TROUBLE, it would be pretty hard to believe that you can get much funkier. In a nutshell Joe's music is the JB school of funk (tight and bumping) - - but on top of the groove message music - - lyrics as quotable as Gil Scott Heron.

To anyone who considers themself a fan of "rare groove", funk, '70s soul - - call it what you want... not having this compilation of Joe Quarterman's tunes is what I could only call sinful. - - Though his moment of fame (for a while he was touring the R & B circuit w/ groups like Aretha Franklin, TOP, AWB etc.) may not have lasted as long as it should, its clear, this is one artist who the record company's let get away. And the good news is, I met with Joe recently, and can only say, if there's a funk spot near you that's known to bring oldie but goodie funk bands into town, I'd definitely check to see if he's coming your way... this is one mutha' of an energetic performer ! ! !

Sir Joe Quarterman and Free Soul make up one of many "second tier" funk groups that formed in the late 60s and early 70s. This CD comprises some of their best tracks and, if you are a hardcore funk fan, you may find it worthwhile. There is some nice horn and guitar work scattered throughout the disc. HOWEVER.....

While I realize that groups like Black Nasty, Joe Quarterman and Free Soul, The Counts, Ripple, Black Heat and the like all have their fans and cult followings......It doesn't take a long listen to see why these groups are not considered to be on the same level as Sly, The Ohio Players, The Bar-Kays, The Commodores, Brick, Cameo, Slave, Kool and the Gang, Con Funk Shun, P-Funk, Mandrill, War, The Meters, etc. They are interesting groups to be sure, but I would only recommend checking into them AFTER you've obtained more essential funk first.

For one thing, I find the music by these "second tier" funk outfits to be extremely repititious and unoriginal. After about 4 tracks, the music begins to sound alike and run together. One of the things that distinguished great groups like the Isleys or Earth, Wind & Fire was their diversity.......an innate ability to flawlessly shift from hard funk, to soul, to ballads, to jazz......seemingly effortlessly. You'll find no such variety or diversity here. Track 10 is pretty much on the same groove as track 1.

Secondly, many of these "underground" lesser-known funk groups were really intended to be back up bands first......and that is a big part of why there is a sameness to the music. It doesn't hold up well on it's own.

As long as you realize this going in, and you just want to add some depth to your r&b collection, then you might be interested in picking this up if you find it for a bargain price. There's no question that there were a number of talented funk groups in the early 70s and that inevitably some groups would be nudged aside; just remember, though......"second tier," rare groove-style groups are second tier for a reason. After 4 or 5 tracks you'll see why...

James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, naturally influenced a great many other recording artists, some of whom also had lengthy, lucrative and successful careers. Just as many more, however, could never quite break through, and among those was Joe Quarterman.

As with so many other black artists, he commenced by singing in church groups, local chorale clubs, and wherever else he could assemble an audience - including street corners. While in high school, and leading a group known as The Knights, he was given the nickname "Sir" and although certainly a fan of James Brown & The Famous Flames, he soon developed his own style which in no way imitated the master.

In fact, in the early 1960s he hooked up with four female singers calling themselves The Maidens and, as Sir Joe & The Maidens, cut Jivin Jean b/w Pen Pal for the Lenox label [neither side charted]. Also an accomplished trumpet player he worked briefly with a group known as the Magnificent Seven, which at times backed Garnet Mimms, as well as with The Orlando Smith Quintet, a pure jazz group, before forming the funk group Free Soul in 1970.

Consisting of George "Jackie" Lee on lead guitar, drummer Charles Steptoe, Gregory Hammonds on bass, Karissa Freeman at the keyboard, guitarist Willie Parker, and trumpet player Leon Rogers, they secured a contract with Lloyd Price's GSF label where, unfortunately, their only success would come on the R&B charts in 1973/74, and even there the results were disappointing.

Their first hit was their best as (I Got) So Much Trouble in My Mind Pt.1 [b/w Pt. 2] hit # 30 R&B in January 1973. A couple of failures were followed later that year by This Girl Of Mine (She's Good To Me) which just made the charts at # 96 b/w I Feel Like This. Naturally, this has been left out of the compilation by Collectables which, instead, chose to include tracks from their only LP, Sir Joe Quarterman & Free Soul, released late in 1973.

The mix of failures and weak entries then continued on into 1974, with Thanks Dad Pt. 1 [b/w Pt. 2], which reached # 82 R&B in February, becoming their last hit for GSF. A year later they turned up with Mercury, but not even the promotional resources of that giant of the industry could nudge them onto the more lucrative Billboard Pop Hot 100. Their only hit there, Get Down Baby Pt. 1 [b/w Pt. 2] hit # 59 R&B in February 1975 but another cut, I'm A Young Man, failed, at which point Mercury dumped the band. And that was it. Following the group's breakup Quarterman went back to school where he ultimately earned a degree in architecture.

I have to agree with another reviewer who questions the wisdom behind the release of a compilation covering such a little-known band, especially when there are so many other artists with a much higher degree of success who have been totally ignored to date when it comes to CD releases [The Esquires for example?]. Does Collectables really expect to sell enough of this release to make it worthwhile? I certainly cannot recommend it.

This Golden Classic is one that I can understand being from the group called the Baby Boomers. I can appreciate music like this because the music today is not one that I care to listen too. Listening to the Golden Classics can take you back and keep it real.