Been very busy today, the wife,s had me painting the fence and other chores hence the late reviews as i dont like to let you guys down...I Got A Message: Hollywood 1968-1970 is from funk legends Dyke & The Blazers. This collection features a range of songs from the band's time in Los Angeles, some of their last recordings before front man Arlester Christian's tragic death. The double album album features 16 previously unreleased recordings and includes their biggest hit "Let A Woman Be A Woman - Let A Man Be A Man," which has been sampled by many generations to follow. Dyke & the Blazers were one of the first acts possibly the first notable act, to play funk other than James Brown. Indeed, they often sounded like a sort of junior version of Brown and the JB's, playing songs in which the rhythms and riffs mattered more than the tune. Similarly, vocalist Dyke Christian sang/grunted words that mattered more for the feeling and rhythm than the content. Their best known track, "Funky Broadway, " was covered for a bigger hit by Wilson Pickett, though Dyke & the Blazers got a few more R&B hits before Dyke was shot to death in 1971. Arlester "Dyke" Christian was born in Buffalo, New York, in 1943, and by the mid-'60s was singing and playing bass with the O'Jays backing band, the Blazers. Dyke and some of the other Blazers were stranded in Phoenix when the O'Jays' couldn't afford to bring them back to Buffalo, and the Blazers based themselves in Phoenix, having no means to travel elsewhere. Their "Funky Broadway" was released on the Phoenix indie Artco in late 1966, and picked up for distribution by the L.A.-based Original Sound label. It became a sizable R&B hit (and a small pop one), and may have been the first record to use the word "funky" in the title. As with James Brown, Dyke & the Blazers' records sold far better, and charted much better, with the R&B audience than the pop one, which was for the most part unaware of the band. In the late '60s and early '70s, Dyke and the band issued a series of gut-bucket funk singles with scratchy guitar riffs, greasy organ, hoarse vocals, and jazzy horns; all traits that James Brown and his band had developed, admittedly. But Dyke did the style well (right down to issuing several two-part singles), although not with a great deal of variety. For some of his sessions, Dyke recorded in Los Angeles with musicians who would later play in the Watts 103rd Street Band (guitarist Al McKay would later be in Earth, Wind & Fire). According to Original Sound producer Art Laboe, most of the singles came from 15-to-20-minute jams that were edited down to a length that could fit on the 45 RPM format. Dyke & the Blazers had Top Ten R&B singles with "We Got More Soul" and "Let a Woman Be a Woman -- Let a Man Be a Man" in 1969, and smaller sellers with "Uhh, " "You Are My Sunshine," and "Runaway People." Dyke Christian, sadly, was fatally shot on the street in Phoenix on March 13, 1971...What a trailblazer!
AMM
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The Tasters!
27 comments:
I got a message: Thanks, AMM!
Nice review yes please AMM
Nice rarity
Although I am not a funk lover, I like this group thanks AMM !
Waiting to listen for the message to Hollywood ... Thanks for review, P.
These guys were great! They may not have invented Funk, but the perfected it.
Very sad story about Dyke. One would wonder whether it was a hit organised by other artists or did he suffered the same fate that Ralphie Pagan did. We will never know. Great review, AMM.
Nice review AMM thanks
Thank you for the review AMM!!
Nice review AMM thanks,,
Many thanks for the review.
I wouldn't mind a listen to this, thanks for the review AMM
Good choice... many thanks AMM :)
BigD
Great review thanks AMM
Thanks AMM
This LP is completely new to me and if the artwork on the cover is anything to go by it should be a cracker. Cheers for a great review.
So it looks like you been doing the white washing on the fence just like Huckleberry Finn having to do the same thing myself but ill spray it I think Thanks for dyke and the blazers I think he had is style when he hit the funk road its a shame he died so violently he would have big news if he had lived Thanks for this set AMM
Cheers Pedro
Love the funk. nice review thanks
Thanks AMM and you haven't ever let us down.
Please pass the message on MM, thank you.
cheers,ELtel
We Got More Soul!!
Thank You Kindly AMM.
Thanks for the review , tasters sound great .
Thank you for an excellent review. I remember "Funky Broadway". I am glad I got to know all the details of this artist. thank AMM.
Great review my friend... Thank you
Ooh yeah, Dyke is the man!
GREAT review AMM
Not seen this rarity before, but definitely interested in hearing it!
Thanks for the share!
Cheers!
Bill(b3will@msn.com)
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