Sunny and the Sunliners: Soul Pride + Cissy Strut
From The Missing Link (Key-Loc, 197?)

I wanted to thank everyone for their support in picking up one our CDs. As a gesture of my gratitude, I decided to slip out another of the “top shelf” records with two cuts off this Sunny and the Sunliners LP. The group was based around San Antonio and had a long, healthy career, releasing singles and albums on the Key-Loc label. (Later, group member Rudy Guerra would go onto found a similar band, The Latin Breed, who are equal legends in the Texas funk scene, especially with their releases on GCP.

Like most of Sunny and the Sunliners albums from this era, Missing Link is a mix of Tex-Mex ranchera songs with a few odd soul and funk tunes mixed in. Apart from the two songs included above, there’s also a slower, instrumental cut, “Boo Boo” and a midtempo funk tune, “Pressure Cooker” (good name). I appreciate that diversity and seeming eclecticism though I know, for the group, there likely was no contradiction in them playing a Norteño track one minute and a soul one the next.

Their cover of “Soul Pride” is pretty loyal – a good funk slammer, no doubt – but their version of “Cissy Strut” is something fierce, especially with their addition of the “Sing a Simple Song” horn bridge (nice). Is it my favorite cover of this Meters classic? Tough call – I do dig the new elements they throw in but I might have to stick with the Hoctor cover (and don’t sleep on the Trinidad Steel Drum Band’s either).

Mon Rivera : Lluvia Con Nieve &
Bobby Valentin : Coco Seco
taken from the compilation Fania DJ Series: Gilles Peterson on Fania (2007)

Nonato E Seu Conjunto : Tereco &
Freesom Orquestra : Rush
taken from the compilation Ultimate Brazilian Breaks & Beats #2 on Adventures In Paradise (2007)

I realize this is a late notice, but so was my spur of the minute decision to come out to L.A. to visit young Murphy. It was no coincidence that my trip happens to overlap with another Boogaloo session at The Shortstop, but rather divine intervention, I merely heeded the call. So if you’re like me and desperately need to shake loose some stodge, and are in the L.A. area, then come through and show some love and say hello. We’ll be spinning songs like these ones above, as well as tons of other musical firecrackers, amongst a moving crowd of dancers and friendly folk (look out for O-Dub!). Both brothers side by side behind the turntables = MAYHEM.

Just one note about the songs: I’ve been meaning to post this Mon Rivera cut for like 2 years now as it’s one of the select few songs that I manage to play without fail every single week, and never seem to tire of. LISTEN TO THOSE TROMBONES!!!

Muddy Waters : I Just Wanna Make Love To You & Mannish Boy
taken from the album “Electric Mud” on Cadet (1968)

Howlin’ Wolf : Spoonful, Smokestack Lightning & Evil
taken from the album “The Howlin’ Wolf Album” on Cadet (1968)

Wynder K Frog : Into The Fire & Howl In Wolf’s Clothing
taken from the album “Into The Fire” on United Artists (1970)

It makes little sense to me, how after years of tirelessly searching the used bins at hundreds of music stores, religiously reading the record reviews in all types of periodicals, and more recently, scouring the vast savannas of the blogosphere for great sounds, somehow, I still have managed to miss some of the most fundamental things. Enter Muddy and Wolf.

I found these 3 records together at the same small local shop that I picked up those Super Blues & Bo Diddley LPs at a while back, and I have a hunch that they all came from the same collection. While I shamefully recognized back then that I had blindly slept on the funky rawness of the Super Blues trio (Diddley, Muddy & Wolf), I now feel like a total imbecile for not realizing the depth of these cats greatness. Shredding and pounding this hard back in ’68, these dudes almost make Hendrix seem less badass – almost. Now Wynder K Frog may not stand up to the monumental gangster that these guys represent, but at least he had the decent sense back then to recognize a good thing when it was going on and try to join the party. Some might recognize his tribute to Wolf, “A Howl In Wolf’s Clothing” (which is pretty clearly ripped from “Smokestack”), as the basis for a Handsome Boy Modelling School cut. Also nice to hear a raucous 30-second cowbell drumbreak at the top of side-A.

AND ANOTHER EXCITING NOTE: Ix Pics is back up and running! Yeah for Jefe being not lazy anymore! There’s some beautiful shots from his recent trip to Jamaica and Cuba among other. Check it out

Bilal: Something To Hold On To, Gotsta Be Cool and Lord Don’t Let It

Taken from the as-yet-unreleased album Love For Sale (2006)

I tend to take it as a positive signal when an audience seems a bit perplexed by the performer they’ve come to watch. At the very least, I don’t think it’s a necessarily bad thing. Sure, it might indicate a musician out of step with his fanbase, or for that matter someone simply untalented, but Bilal is neither of these. He’s just on another level.

My friend said to me as we were leaving the show last Friday, “Dude looked like he was freaking the peyote train.” And he did–look like it, I mean. He had a certain transcendental air about him. (His stage presence felt more Jim Morrison than what one might figure the cool “neo-soul” crooner type.) But I got the sense watching him that all the manifestations of his esoteric style–dress, demeanor and vocal execution–were the very ways that made his music impactful. And different. And hard for some of the crowd to get avidly behind, mainly ’cause they were just a little confused.

But one thing’s sure: dude’s killing it. And he’s doing it his way.

There is nothing trite or re-hashed about the way Bilal executes his songs. Inimitable structuring (courtesy of high caliber training in jazz and opera), haunting falsetto vocals, and a mean idea of a backing band (SA-RA suckas!), make for an artist that, even if he can’t get the crowd frenzy of a swooning D’Angelo, delivers on the hope of a future for soul music.

These songs were taken off an album that was never saw a proper release but is widely available for download on the internet. I’ve been fiending this ish since the day I first laid ears on it. Get hip.

Manu Dibango: African Pop Session + Aphrodite Shake
From African Voodoo (PSI, 1972)

A quick hit:

African Voodoo is basically a library-style record of instrumentals done by Manu Dibango of “Soul Makossa” fame and it is, I’d say with some confidence, his funkiest work, by far. “African Pop Session” is some dark, blaxploitation score for midnight stalkers while “Aphrodite Shake” drops a nice, smoky Afro-Latin groove – dig how they pan the congas and drum kit in separate channels.

The Four Mints: Too Far Gone (alt. take)
From Gently Down Your Stream (Capsoul, 1973/Asterisk, 2007)

Boscoe: If I Had My Way
From S/T (Kingdom of Chad, 1973/Asterisk, 2007)

The Rollers: Knockin’ At The Wrong Door
Previously unreleased (Deep City, 1970)

Lynn Williams: Don’t Be Surprise [sic]
From 7″ (Suncut, 1969)

Both from The Outskirts of Deep City (Numero Group, 2008)

I never fail to be blown away by both the consistency and quantity of material that Ken Shipley and Rob Sevier, aka the duo behind Numero Group – and now, they’re new subsidiary reissue label, Asterisk. Seriously – it’s not enough that they’re now the finest soul reissue/compilation label in the game but it’s like they have to rub it in by creating new labels, putting out albums as appendixes and composing liner notes that put most to shame.

To start with, Asterisk is a new venture that’s basically a way for NG to reissue whole albums, package it slightly more austerely, but still offer excellent liners and more importantly, the opportunity to listen to albums that, previously, had been rare as hen’s teeth or rooster dentures. Whatever.

The Boscoe, for example, has become a running joke over at Soulstrut – it’s like a default holy grail. You don’t need to have heard the album…or even like the album…you just want your Boscoe. A product of the same Chicago Black cultural movements that inspired Sun Ra and Phil Cochran, Boscoe has the same kind of liberation/spiritual vibe as those other albums, only filtered through some viscous funk that leaves you feeling dirty and uplifted in the same moment. Note: Numero Group has also released the album on vinyl.

The Four Mints’ project dates back to Numero’s very first anthology on the Capsoul label. The Four Mints were some of the more prolific artists on that Columbus, OH imprint and their LP was the only album Capsoul ever released before folding. As the liners warn you: the original wasn’t an “album” in the Sgt. Pepper meaning of the term; it really just puts together all the group’s 45s onto a single disc plus a bonus song (the studio version of “Too Far Gone”). Beautiful stuff all around – their output was gorgeous (peep “Do You Really Love Me“). I was especially taken with this “alternative take” of “Too Far Gone,” which, in my opinion, is better than the official take – it’s more sparse, has stronger drums but still has the great harmonies.

Their new Outskirts of Deep City CD follows up on their previous Deep City anthology which highlighted this powerfully influential Miami label where folks like Betty Wright got their starts and Clarence Reid made a home for himself for a spell. Keep in mind – the Outskirts album contains tracks left off the first comp (plus many songs that turned up after, including a slew of never-before-released songs) and despite being the follow-up, the album is smoking. “Deep” indeed.

The Rollers’ “Knockin’ At the Wrong Door” is one of the songs NG discovered on reel to reel and this is the first time the song has ever seen a release. If it sounds kind of familiar, that’s probably because it’s clearly “borrowing” from the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” but despite being derivative on the rhythm track, the group’s hook is a fine creation on their own and really sells the song.

The Lynn Williams is something I put on SS about 3 years ago but when I saw it show up here, I figured it was time for a re-up. What I said about it last time still holds: “That’s not a typo with the Lynn Williams’ song. For some reason, the label for the 45 says “Don’t Be Surprise” not “Don’t Be Surprised”. Go figure. Whatever the mistake, the song isn’t: it’s a fantastically moody and sulty soul cut out of Miami. Reminds me a little of Isaac Hayes’ “Walk On By” – not nearly as well-produced, but just the feel of it: dark and dramatic. (And yes, before anyone says it, Jurassic 5 sampled it. Ok?)”

I should also add that this song is more than just dark – Williams sounds fatalistic at times. The one line that stands out to me: “don’t be surprised/if you see me/laying on the railroads tracks/don’t be surprised/if I let a train run/up and down my back.” Damn girl, he’s just a man – it’s not worth it!