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VA - Bay Area Funk 2
Ubiquity Records
If any one genre of music has reached a fever pitch among
collectors and even the general public over the past few years
it has been "the rare groove" and, by that, I mean obscure and
unreleased soul/funk music. Music geeks and beatheads are
chasing down obscure soul music even faster than rare psyche and
freakfolk from the '60's. I mean, the past few months have been
an eye-opener for me as I have started digging in to all of
these "rare groove" comps and a whole passel of re-issues from
obscure soul and funk bands. My mind has truly been opened.
While the world has always been aware of the stellar soul from
Motown, Stax, Hi Records and the like, I am sure most never
realized there had been such a strong scene bubbling under the
radar from 1965 to 1975. This is a great time for those seeking
to expand their minds - so much is being unearthed by great
labels and this compilation is one of the coolest I've seen.
The tracks contained on this sampler, the second of two
samplers featuring obscure soul and funk from California's Bay
area and Oakland, proves how much great soul and funk there is
lying in wait. When these tracks were recorded, R&B music in
California was going through a transition. While records by
long-time, well-known artists like Sugar Pie DeSanto and Little
Joe Blue could still get airplay, a whole new bunch of bands and
artists were popping up who excited the local deejays and were
able to steal a little of the oh-so-precious airtime needed to
get noticed. Not only were these new artists on major labels,
but many of the greatest acts were on little regionals. Unlike
today's stifled radio playlists, disc jockeys could play
whatever they wanted to on their shows and these up and coming
artists were able to get a decent amount of airtime to promote
their gigs. Though most of these artists were never able to make
it out of obscurity (except for Sugar Pie Desanto - who had a
decent career and released a wonderful comeback album a couple
of years ago) the quality of these songs is beyond reproach.
Great deep grooves and wonderful soul music that compels you to
dance. These are easily just as good as the hits we all know and
love.
One of the best things about this compilation is the
liner notes. Fact-filled but brief, they manage to tell you just
the right amount of info about the song and the artist without
getting too cloying. I hate comps where there is little to no
info about the artist or the songs, but also get annoyed when
every burp and fart is revealed. These liner notes are some of
the better ones. Very informative and a great aid for the more
music nerdy among us. Believe me, you don't need them to enjoy
this CD. In fact, your body might be moving to much for you to
be able to focus on them anyway. I truly could not sit still
while listening to this.
People who will enjoy this album the most are music
fanatics who love the funk and soul sounds from the late '60's
and early '70's. Even obsessive beatheads and master funk-ologists
who haunt record stores every day will not have heard about most
of these deep grooves so there is plenty here to discover. Those
into just having a dance party will find a lot to love here as
well. They're just not making funk music like this anymore. I
recommend picking this up as soon as possible so the dancing and
grooving can commence! - Scott Homewood
www.ubiquity.com
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