rep>>> Funkadelic - Funkadelic (1969-70 us, superb soul heavy psych, 2005 bonus tracks remaster)

Funkadelic, arguably the greatest "black rock" band ever...Actually, strike that, they are far and away the best black rock band ever. In fact, screw everything, they're one of the greatest rock bands period, up there with any classic rock dinosaur you care to name. And though it's tempting to launch an essay on the racism of rock radio-- or rock journalism for that matter-- I'll stick to the band. Even as they're revered as legends and purveyors of the some of the best funk of the 70s, I've read relatively few accounts on their greatness as a pure rock band. But they had it all: great players, great singers, a great look, a great concept, actual hits, great albums, great drugs, freaky sex, disputes over money-- everything Led Zeppelin (or Spinal Tap) taught us was necessary to make the world's greatest rock music.

They started small, backing up ringleader George Clinton's Parliaments in the late 60s. When Clinton got into arguments with his label Revilot over money and rights, he decided to start recording his backup band instead, using the original Parliaments singers (Clinton, Ray Davis, Clarence "Fuzzy" Haskins-- and come on, dude's name is "Fuzzy"-- Calvin Simon and Grady Thomas) as "guests." Guitarists Eddie Hazel and Tawl Ross, bassist Billy Nelson, drummer Tiki Fulwood, and eventually, master keyboardist Bernie Worrell were the band that would turn this fairly traditional soul group into the intense live act that wowed Detroit's Westbound Records head Armen Boladian. He signed them, and from the get-go, their music cut through genres and money bullshit like neither had ever existed. Never mind that half the band quit and came back again during recording sessions for their first record, Funkadelic was destined for greatness. Ace's reissues of the band's Westbound catalog is long overdue-- they sound a world better than the terribly mastered original CD pressings, and contain a wealth of bonus tracks, alternate mixes, and liner notes.

Funkadelic from 1970 was a bomb dropped all over rock and soul. No matter Hendrix, no matter James Brown, no matter the MC5, nobody had ever heard anything like this. This music was slower than sludge, dirtier than the "raw funk" Herb "Sparky" Sparkman talks about in "Music For My Mother". It was a great big fucking mess, and a lot of people didn't know what to make of it. I remember reading a Rolling Stone review from the time that ended with "who needs this shit?" and a writer from the Blues & Soul 'zine from a year later admitted, "Funkadelic has never been one of my favorite R&B; acts". Still, the record sold (peaking at #16 on the Soul LPs chart), and planted the seed of a cult worship that would balloon in the latter half of the decade, making the P-Funk enterprise the most successful soul act on the planet.

"Mommy, What's a Funkadelic?" started out with the sound of Clinton's wet mouth and the best ever opening line for an album: "If you will suck my soul, I will lick your funky emotions." When the beat hits with Hazel's guitar line, there can be no doubt that Funkadelic were without peer as far as this stuff was concerned. This stuff-- hell, tunes like "Mommy" and "Good Old Music" are slams to the gut as powerful as anything Zep ever did, and with beats to spare. "Music For My Mother" is like a Southern myth, detailing a loner's travels through "Keep Runnin' Mississippi", hearing music he thought long dead, yet getting trapped by its sticky black allure. "What Is Soul?" drops more classic lines ("soul is a hamhock in your cornflakes," "Soul is chitlins foo young," "soul is a joint rolled in toilet paper") in seven minutes than most bands muster up in a career. Bonus tracks like the tight instrumental "As Good As I Can Feel" and several single versions of album cuts make this album one of the most indispensable of all indispensable Funkadelic records.

by Dominique Leone

Tracks
1. Mommy, What's a Funkadelic? (George Clinton) - 9:04
2. I Bet You (George Clinton, Patrick Lindsey, Sidney Barnes) - 6:10
3. Music for My Mother (George Clinton, Eddie Hazel, Billy Nelson) - 5:37
4. I Got a Thing, You Got a Thing, Everybody's Got a Thing (Clarence Haskins) - 3:52
5. Good Old Music (George Clinton) - 7:59
6. Qualify and Satisfy (George Clinton, Billy Nelson, Eddie Hazel) - 6:15
7. What Is Soul (George Clinton) - 7:40
8. Can't Shake It Loose (George Clinton, Sidney Barnes, Joanne Jackson, Rose Marie McCoy) - 2:28 
9. I Bet You (George Clinton, Patrick Lindsey, Sidney Barnes) - 4:10 
10.Music for My Mother (George Clinton, Eddie Hazel, Billy Nelson) - 5:17 
11.As Good as I Can Feel (George Clinton, Clarence Haskins) - 2:31
12.Open Our Eyes (Leon Lumpkins) - 3:58 
13.Qualify and Satisfy (George Clinton, Billy Nelson, Eddie Hazel) - 3:00 
14.Music for My Mother (George Clinton, Eddie Hazel, Billy Nelson) - 6:14 

Bonus Tracks 8-14

Musicians

*George Clinton - Vocals

*Eddie Hazel - Lead Guitar, Vocals (Tracks 1,9)

*Lucius "Tawl" Ross - Rhythm Guitar, Vocals (Tracks 3,10)

*Ray Monette - Guitar (Track 4)

*Billy "Bass" Nelson - Bass (Track 1), Vocals (Tracks 3,4,10)

*Bob Babbitt - Bass (Track 9)

*Mickey Atkins - Organ (Track 1)

*Bernie Worrell - Organ (Track )

*Earl Van Dyke - Keyboards (Track 9)

*Ramon "Tiki" Fulwood - Drums (Tracks 1,4,9,6,13) 

*Brad Innis - Drums (Tracks 3,10)

*Gasper Lawal - Conga (Tracks 3,10)

*Herb Sparkman - Lead Vocals (Tracks 3,10)

*Clarence "Fuzzy" Haskins - Lead Vocals (Track 4)

*Calvin Simon - Lead Vocals (Tracks 6,13) 

*Ray Davis, Grady Thomas and some unknown Female Vocalists - Additional Vocals 

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rep>>> Buffy Sainte-Marie - Illuminations (1969 us, heavenly trippy folk psych rock, 2000 remaster)

Beginning with 1967’s Fire & Fleet & Candlelight, the music of  folksinger Buffy Sainte-Marie began to take on a decidedly schizophrenic nature. Traditionally celebrated for her biting political songs, as well as her stark approach to folksong, the late sixties saw her take her distinctive sound in a series of surprising directions. Candlelight experimented with sweeping orchestral arrangements and electric pop music, while its follow-up, I’m Gonna Be A Country Girl Again, saw Buffy immersing herself deep in Nashville traditions. Come winter, 1969, and the young firebrand decided to turn the tables once again, releasing what is perhaps her most esoteric album of all: Illuminations.

From the very first notes you know you’re in for something unique. “God Is Alive, Magic Is Afoot” is an eerie, electronically treated adaptation of lines from Leonard Cohen’s novel Beautiful Losers, featuring bizarre production touches courtesy of Vanguard Records president Maynard Solomon himself. Buffy’s voice and guitar are taken and warped into distorted moans and oscillating loops of sound that build upon themselves into a kind of electric witch’s chant. I should warn you not to get too comfortable with all this, though, because if this record is anything, it’s unpredictable. After almost five minutes, this unsettling opening fades into the short, church organ hymnal “Mary,” before a gnarly electric guitar and banjo jerk into the rapid-fire folk-rock of “Better To Find Out For Yourself,” featuring Buffy at her yelping, wailing best. In the clucking fadeout, what might return but Solomon’s electronic screeching, teasing the record back down into a dark, candlelit vampire ballad.

Honestly, I could go on for the entirety of the track list like this, as every song here is  indispensable to the whole. In fact, I’m almost tempted to label this one a concept album, with the opening track acting as a sort of manifesto. As for the music, though, it’s everywhere, from the raw west coast psychedelia of “He’s A Keeper of the Fire” to the caustic “Suffer the Little Children,” which itself sounds straight out of one of Buffy’s earlier records. One of the most wild segments is when the stomping “With You, Honey” closes with a shrill scream and dissolves into the pretty, lilting acoustic love song “Guess Who I Saw In Paris.” This latter track is so overly cute that in any other context I might write it off as a low point, but in context with the rest of the music here it somehow comes off as extraordinary. Like the rest of the album, it’s hard to really put the magic into words. This is one you just have to experience.

Interestingly enough, this album was not only groundbreaking musically, but it was also the very first quadrophonic vocal record ever made. Unfortunately, it appears that few people cared about either of those two points at the time of its release, as it was a huge commercial disaster and would quickly be deleted from Vanguard’s catalog. If you can, I would recommend you all find a vinyl copy, since this seems like the kind of record that was born for the needle, but should that fail there’s always Vanguard’s compact disc reissue. Also worth checking out is Buffy’s follow up to this one, She Used To Want To Be A Ballerina, which, of course, sounds little like Illuminations, but does feature Jack Nitzsche and the original lineup of Neil Young and Crazy Horse.

by Nik Rayne

Tracks
1. God Is Alive, Magic Is Afoot (Leonard Cohen, Buffy Sainte Marie) - 4:40
2. Mary - 1:26
3. Better To Find Out For Yourself - 2:12
4. The Vampire - 2:05
5. Adam (Richie Havens) - 4:50
6. The Dream Tree - 2:35
7. Suffer The Little Children - 3:15
8. The Angel (Ed Freeman) - 3:30
9. With You, Honey - 1:45
10.Guess Who I Saw In Paris - 2:25
11.He's A Keeper Of The Fire - 3:20
12.Poppies - 3:10
Music and Lyrics by Buffy Sainte-Marie except where stated

Personnel
*Buffy Sainte Marie - Guitar, Vocals
*John Craviotta - Drums
*Bob Bozina - Guitar
*Rick Oxendine - Bass

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