THE JIMMY CASTOR BUNCH - IT'S JUST BEGUN / PHASE TWO
A pair
of classics from the Jimmy Castor Bunch – back to back on a single CD! It's
Just Begun is wickedly fuzzy funk! Jimmy Castor recorded in a lot of different
styles during the 70s – but the one he used on this album is still his best!
The record's a non-stop guitar-heavy batch of classic funk tracks – and it
features the storming break track "It's Just Begun", the funky goofy
"Troglodyte", and plenty other nice moments like "Bad",
"LTD", "I Promise To Remember", and "Psychee".
Fuzzy guitar meets heavy drums meets some of the most insane lyrics ever on a
mainstream funk album! One of our most requested records – and for good reason!
Phase Two is probably Jimmy's second best album of the 70s – one with many of
the same elements as his legendary It's Just Begun record! The band is grooving
hard – with plenty of heavy conga, fuzzed out guitar, and trippy grooves that
serve as a perfect foil for Jimmy's super-dope sense of humor. The record
features a remake of Jimmy's earlier "Hey Leroy", still done with a
Latiny groove, but also with many elements of "It's Just Begun"
thrown into the funky mix. The album also features Jimmy's guitar-heavy
"Tribute To Jim [Hendrix]", and "Luther The Anthropoid",
which was a follow-up to "Troglodyte", with similar stoner caveman
lyrics! Another tasty cut is "Party Life", a 7 minute Latin funk
number with a very War-like groove! ~ Dusty Groove
DJ ANDY SMITH'S JAM UPTWIST U.S.A. FEATURING DEANO SOUNDS: R&B ROCKERS, ROCKABILLY, NORTHERN SOUL AND SLEAZY SHAKERS
A great
US take on the Jam Up Twist sound of DJ Andy Smith – the groove he explored on
a previous compilation in the UK – now served up here in a different lineup for
the states! The music is a mad mix of R&B, jump blues, rockabilly, and
other raw sounds from the tail end of the 50s – very much like the sort of
territory that Keb Darge has explored on his excellent sets with Little Edith –
and the kind of sounds that go way way beyond well-known hits from the period!
Smith digs very deep in the crates, and gets some help with selections from
Deano Sounds as well – on this smoking set that includes "Honey
Child" by Johnny Williams, "What's My Chances" by Chuck
Flamingo, "Thanks Mr Postman" by Bobby King, "Lonesome Shack"
by Ernie Washington, "Doing All Right" by Eddie Cash, "Swingin
& Surfin" by Les Brown Jr, "Ever Again" by Gene Woodbury,
"High School Caesar" by Reggie Perkins, "Monkey's Uncle" by
Ray Sharpe, and "Pack Shack & Stack" by Billy Nelson. ~ Dusty Groove
RONNIE MATTHEWS WITH FREDDIE HUBBARD - DOIN' THE THANG!
One of
the only early albums as a leader from pianist Ronnie Mathews – a player who
recorded more often in later years, but who really sounds incredible in this
rare session for Prestige! Although a lyrical player at heart, Mathews also has
a very hard edge here – more of a soul jazz groove than you'd hear on his later
records, and a great example of the sound he was picking up from some of his
key 60s work as a sideman. The group is great overall – with Freddie Hubbard on
trumpet and Charles Davis on baritone sax – both players who bring a Blue
Note-like sense of imagination to their solos here. The rest of the group
features Eddie Kahn on bass and Albert Heath on drums – and titles include the
killers "The Thang", "Ichi Ban", and "The Orient"
– plus "Let's Get Down", "1239A", and "Prelude To A
Kiss". ~ Dusty Groove
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