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This disc is worth getting for that song alone. The version they have hear is a 5 minute "edit"; where on earth is the full length version. There are some other good songs on this disc, especially "Drugs Ain't Cool." Some of the songs are mediocre, but overall, not bad. I heard "The Stretch" by the Detroit Sex Machines on KBCS in the Seattle area, and it blew me away. I couldn't believe I'd never heard it before.
3 stars is maybe a bit harsh, you will find some funky drummers and tight bassplayers here, but compared to first rate compilations like "New Orleans Funk", "King Funk"; "Texas Funk" and the box set "What it is" this just doesn`t measure up. Fantastic. Man, I like those rolling drums. I`ve been looking forward gettin` my hands on this compilation for a looong time. The sound quality is also rather poor on some cuts. I think they are a little too eager to please, and their butter ain`t hot enough to melt the cheese. I`m a HUGE fan of James Brown and Fela, and hoped for some real nasty funk, but even though the tail on this alligator is moving a lot, the musicians just doesn`t look in on the groove. I think "Go for your self" by Kenny Smith & The Loveliters is the standout track here.
It's useful to hear the influences of the day. And I did like that it was mostly instrumental. Lately I've started to look for early funk recordings that I had never heard of. Psychedelic rock meets soul blues and early funk. It seems like this stuff was best experienced live, and didn't translate that well in the studio. Cold Heat seemed like a great collection.On first listen though, this wasn't as groovin' as I had hoped for. It could be that the lo-budget production quality of the tracks got in the way or maybe the material itself was off.
These are some of the tightest arrangements I have ever heard in my life. When I popped this Cold Heat: Heavy Funk Rarities CD in my stereo, I thought "I bet this will be weak".I love all kinds of music and 70's funk ranks up there with Joy Division in my book. This entire CD is great.I can't say anymore,except just buy it. "Drugs Ain't Cool" is by far the best 2:45 funk instrumental I have heard. WOW. was I surprised,this CD blew my head off.
This particular compilation is not the definitive overview of rare underground funk from the golden age, but it's definitely a worthy sampler that could turn the knowledgeable funk fan into a serious crate-digging collector. And there is a real collector's find in the Aristocrats, the members of whom should be tracked down and convinced to deliver that righteous groove once again (but sadly, slammin' foxy singer Linda Blakely is no longer with us). These are the cats you can totally imagine getting on up while opening local shows for James Brown or playing in seedy clubs with the early Funkadelic.
Carnival try way too hard to sing like the Temptations, and Leon Mitchison supplies Superfly's twin brother in "Street Scene." But otherwise, like the best of no-nonsense early fongk, most of the tracks here deliver insistent grooves with no messing around. The rare hard funk collected here is surely outrageous, but you'll soon ask yourself how much is still out there and ready for worship. Faves include "The Stretch" by Detroit Sex MacHines and "Slipping into Darkness" by Dayton Sidewinders (in both these cases, the song titles and band names couldn't be more accurate).
Many eons ago, hard funk troupes roamed the land, supplying supertight musicianship and sinister grooves to underfunkdafied peoples. Many of the acts here clearly embody, and sometimes outright imitate, the key influences on the early heavy funk -Lil' Javier & the Fabulous Jades aren't even trying to NOT sound like JB, L.A. [~doomsdayer520~]
Many record companies and producers are now collecting mega-rare singles by these forgotten funkateers. It's surely just the tip of the iceberg, but the nasty funk herein offers a bootyshakin' taste of what was once an unheralded but oozing scene.There are a few glimpses of real ambition and innovation here, particularly from Amnesty and Kashmere Stage Band (if their track "Scorpio" wasn't the theme song to a righteous blaxploitation flick, it should've been).
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