Various Artists - Street Sounds From The Bay Area - Music City Funk & Soul Grooves 1971-1975(2011)BGP - Rare Soul/Funk + Booklet

In the last decade funk has gone from the forgotten cousin of soul to the genre that has been most quickly excavated and then sometimes discarded. It often seems that every rare record has been snapped up and compiled already (it’s not true but sometimes it seems like it). However, the Ace collective really does have the ability to go deeper, as with the world of rare soul, their access to the tape vaults of various companies allows them to bring the world some exceptional music that has never been heard since the day it was recorded. “Street Sounds From The Bay Area” is the result of their examination of the recordings made, and then on the whole not released, by Ray Dobard’s Music City outfit between 1971 and 1975.The album highlights on the idiosyncratic working practises of Dobard, who was a fixture of the Bay Area’s musical scene from the early 50s with his Music City store, studio and record label. With the shop as a local musical landmark, he was an obvious stop off point for any young musician looking to take his or her first steps in the industry. However, Dobard was not an especially artist-friendly producer, and by the early 70s, with better recording facilities available locally, he was starting to lose his pre-eminence in the area. As a result, much of what was recorded at the time remained in the can. Of the 17 cuts on this CD, only the two by the Two Things In One have seen the light of day before, and only the recordings of Darondo whose Music City single ‘Didn’t I’ is a cult classic these days, have anything of a legend around them. What we have then are 15 undiscovered slices of street funk which, had they been released at the time, would be highly sought-after collectors’ items today. The music here shifts through virtually all the shades of sounds beloved by funk collectors down the years. The Two Things In One singles are wonderful and make a great taster for a whole CD of their recording which will be released further down the line. The same can be said for Darondo, who gives us a slick soul-funk workout under the title ‘Gimme Some’. There are some storming funky jazz cuts from Al Tanner, Charles “Doc” Williams and the Love Uprisers and a great funk cut from Chucky Thurmon (to go alongside his rare 45 ‘Turn It Over’), while the discovery of another Houston Outlaws recording to add to their slim catalogue is a major find. To my ears, the Soul Messengers are the discovery of the collection. Very little is known about them but, if their session of political jazz-tinged funk had made it to record, it would be held in the same esteem as super rarities such as Boscoe’s or Soul Expedition’s self-titled albums.The wealth of music that has yet to see the light of day from American studios big and small is breathtaking. This is just a small but highly rewarding sample.The words “street sounds”suggest non-stop rough neck groove (unless you recall those 80s albums of the same title), so it comes as a faint surprise to hear the mellow Wes Montgomery/Dyke & The Blazers cover medley that kicks off this set.But, as you might expect from a selection drawn from the obscure Music City label out of Oakland, California between 1971-75, this certainly has its “street” vibe. The production values are mostly raw, but so are the grooves, and they kick up funky dust. If the teenage/hippie rebellion lyrics of The Two Things In One’s Charles Wright-soundalike "Stop Telling Me" don’t get you, then the laidback beats will. The knotty fuzz guitar riffs of The Houston Outlaws add a rock dimension to their sub-JBs groove and  Stax horns, not sure about that feedback solo though! JBs-style sounds also inform Al Tanner’s "The Rock That Killed Goliath", but the strings and mellow groove make it sound like Prestige funk. Best of all is Gimme Some from the enigmatic Darondo, the retro-soul discovery of recent years, a hybrid of Al Green, Sylvester and Johnny Taylor. He has a do-it-all-night voice and, no doubt in Oakland back then,they did....Funk as Raw as you Like it!..Many thanks to Yves for Booklet

AMM

                                                       **********REQUEST**********

                                                                     The Tasters!