Here is another solid track from Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson titled "Racetrack France". This funky gem was released on the duo's 1977 album Bridges which features a number of other greats songs including "Hello Sunday! Hello Road!", "Under The Hammer", and "We Almost Lost Detroit". Overall just another must-own release from the legendary soul-funk duo.
Here is Wess & The Airedales soulful rendition of The Beginning Of The End's early seventies disco classic "Funky Nassau". This version of the song was included on the group's 1972 album Vehicle. Even though I tend to prefer either The Beginning Of The End's and/or Ray Munnings' 1979 version of the song, I think this is a worthy rendition that brings a bit of a more soulful feel to the overall classic. Enjoy!
After a number of solid singles over the last few years, Mr. President (aka Bruno "Patchworks" Hovart has released a full-length album titled Number One. The funky soulful record includes many of the singles he's released over last few years including "Meet Again", "The Best Is Yet To Come", "Love & Happiness" as well as a slew full of new funky cuts like "From South to North", "Tribute to RZA", "Left & Right", "Get it Sometime" and many others. The album features a number of great vocalists including Mr. Day, Hawa, JRMNM, and Mounam. The whole album has a solid vintage soul and heavy funk groove throughout with plenty of catching vocal hooks that will have just about anyone singing out loud for days. In all, Bruno Hovart, once again under the Mr. President alias, has put together another well-crafted release, resulting in one of the best albums of the year. Enjoy!
With Detroit guitar legend Dennis Coffey guest appearing tonight along side The Adrian Younge Sound Orchestra at Waxpoetics Records SXSW Showcase, I thought it would be appropriate to feature a track off of Coffey's upcoming new self-titled album in "Don't Knock My Love PT.1". The track is a cover of Wilson Pickett's psych-soul jam from the early seventies and features Fanny Franklin from Southern California's funk outfit Orgone. The album, which will be released on April 25th off of Strut Records, will include both original compositions and new interpretations of tracks he originally first appeared on back in the day like Pickett's "Don't Knock My Love", The Parliaments' "All Your Goodies Are Gone", and Funkadelic’s "I Bet You". Coffey has enlisted a number of special guests on this record besides Franklin, which include Kings Go Forth, Mayer Hawthorne and many others. Outside of tonight's special guest performance, the guitarist will play twice this Saturday (Check www.denniscoffeysite.com/ for more details). Overall, it's nice to see this guitar legend performing and recording once again. Enjoy!
If you've been anywhere around the Bay Area the past few weeks you would have a hard time remembering that we just entered the month of February. Outside of maybe a couple of days of light rain, the weather has been sunny and pretty warm compared to the rest of the US. With that being said, I thought I would show my enthusiasm for this beautiful weather by featuring the 1973 funk classic "Yellow Sunshine" by the group Yellow Sunshine. This funky gem was the title track to the Philadelphia band's only album, which notably featured Dexter Wansel on keyboards. Overall, "Yellow Sunshine" is a true funk classic that helps bring some warmth to even the coldest climates. Enjoy!
In the upcoming new Waxpoetics issue (See a Sneak Peak of Issue 44 Here), one of the many group's that will be featured is the legendary funk band War. With the new issue's release approaching, I thought that this would be a good time to post one of my favorite War songs in "Good, Good Feelin'". This funky gem was released in 1979 off the group's The Music Band album. Overall, the Southern California funk band has written a number of solid tracks throughout the seventies, however their might not be a song more primed for the dancefloor than this late seventies gem. Enjoy!
