Monthly Archives: April 2008

Jarreau Live.

Tuesday: April 29, 2008 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Jazz 1 Comment

Artist: Al Jarreau
Title: Look To The Rainbow (Live in Europe)
Year: 1977
Label: Warner Brothers
Format: Vinyl LP (Original)
Flwrpt Rating of this Record: 5.0/5.0

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Review
For the grown folks.

Check out the sound!

Rainbow In You Eyes

Take Five

Better Than Anything

Burst In With A Dawn

Additional info on Al Jarreau

To Kool For School.

Monday: April 21, 2008 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Funk, Jazz, Soul Leave a comment

Artist: Kool & The Gang
Title: Light Of Worlds
Year: 1974
Label: De-Lite
Format: Vinyl LP (Original)
Flwrpt Rating of this Record: 3.0/5.0

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Review
This is a good record. I am not a huge fan of Kool & The Gang, honestly, but lately I’ve been picking up some of their earlier work (1970 through about 1974), and I really like the sound that they had before going commercial. Earlier on, the sound was raw, it was dirty, it was like basement funk or something, block-party funk. You can’t beat that! Light of Worlds, an easy find for those that are interested, it’s definitely worth a listen and a purchase.

Check out the sound!

The Fruitman

Summer Madness

Design
Totally different than most Kool & The Gang covers that I’m used to. This one is a little less intriguing, feels a bit mystic to me actually. It doesn’t evoke the feeling that the sound evokes. I can appreciate the dotted type treatment a little, but overall this cover is kind of dull…MINUS the pop colors of blue and red overprinted color.

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Additional info on Kool & The Gang

Say It. I Am! (I Am!), Somebody.

Wednesday: April 16, 2008 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Funk, Jazz, Soul 1 Comment

Artist: Fred Wesley and the JB’s
Title: Damn Right I Am Somebody
Year: 1973
Label: People
Format: Vinyl LP (Original)
Flwrpt Rating of this Record: 4.0/5.0

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Review
A gem! One of the best Fred Wesley and the JB’s records of all-time! Recorded during the same session as the famous James Brown LP, The Payback…Damn Right I Am Somebody is as funky and as soulful as they come. Expect that signature JB’s sound, Fred Wesley horns, and hard hitting guitars throughout. This is definitely a versatile piece, because they break the formula a bit, which makes the album memorable, and not just “another JB’s joint”. They offer different sounds with this record as well, which makes it that much more unique.

Check out the sound!

Damn Right I’m Somebody

You Sure Love To Ball

Blow Your Head

Design
This is a great cover! From the painting, to the type, down to the composition. It’s definitely telling a story, a story of strength and power to the people! Notice the chains on the young black male on the right, hmmm…I wonder what the JB’s could be symbolizing? I have an idea, that in some cases, the black man is being held down in society, starting from a young age…I’m almost positive that the JB’s were hinting at that. There is a ton of symbolism in this cover art, but I will let you as the viewer make your own interpretations. This was released during very political times in the African-American community, so the passion behind it was very strong I’m sure. Now…INTERPRET!

Additional info on Fred Wesley

The Lords. (AUDIO and VIDEO)

Monday: April 14, 2008 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Jazz, Soul, Video 1 Comment

Artist: The Education of Sonny Carson (Soundtrack)
Title: Self-titled
Year: 1974
Label: Paramount
Format: Vinyl LP (Original)
Flwrpt Rating of this Record: 5.0/5.0

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Review
An amazing blaxploitation soundtrack, that not many people are aware of. I think viewing the movie will definitely help identify with the music. The Education of Sonny Carson is a classic, I’m not going to give away the story, but it’s about Brooklyn NYC gangs in the 70′s, amongst other things. BUY IT!

Leon Ware lends his talents for lead vocals here, delivering a very strong performance. The sound is very gritty overall, very heartfelt in a sense (at times), but it gets across the feeling of storytelling, through sound. Simply by listening one can imagine what would be going on in the film at that point.

A rare piece of material, and a special one! Enjoy…

Check out the sound!

The Rumble

Exercise Run

The Robbery and The Chase

Girl, Girl, Girl

Where Do I Go From Here? (Sonny’s Theme)

Check out the vid!

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Design
As much as I love the record, this cover is HIDEOUS! LOL! They spent ZERO money on creating it, obvious, right?…

Additional info on The Education of Sonny Carson

Rush.

Thursday: April 10, 2008 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Boogie, Soul 5 Comments

Artist: Patrice Rushen
Title: Straight From The Heart
Year: 1982
Label: Elektra
Format: Vinyl LP (Original)
Flwrpt Rating of this Record: 4.0/5.0

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Review
This is the 80′s at its best, a definite classic. Patrice Rushen delivers a VERY solid lp here, bringing tracks that make the listener feel good, feel bad, dance, sing, etc. She leads all vocals, and plays keyboards and synthesizers. Straight From The Hrart, it’s truly an experience.

Check out the sound!

Where There Is Love

You Remind Me

Forget Me Nots

Design
The only thing I’m really feeling about this design is the grid on the back cover. What I do think is interesting, however, are the crazy beads in her hair, that musta took hours right? lol…

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Additional info on Patrice Rushen

Numero Uno.

Tuesday: April 8, 2008 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Soul Leave a comment

Artist: The Main Ingredient
Title: L.T.D.
Year: 1970
Label: RCA
Format: Vinyl LP (Original)
Flwrpt Rating of this Record: 3.5/5.0

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Review
This is the Main Ingredient’s first LP…just…ya know, one of those great soul albums of the early 70′s! All created prior to Cuba Gooding, Sr. joining as lead singer. The original lead vocalist was Donald McPherson, sadly he passed away unexpectedly after the release of this LP…with leukemia.

This album is packed with harmony. The vocal arrangements are what draw me into every track on this particular record. The background vocals are strong as well.

Check out the sound!

Magic Shoes

I Was Born To Lose

Can’t Stand Your Love

You’ve Been My Inspiration

Design
Grainy photography is never a bad thing…to me. The typeface is pretty different for the era, which is the early 70′s. Take a look at their poses…classic New York swag!

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Additional info on The Main Ingredient

Mandre 3000…The Original Three Stacks.

Monday: April 7, 2008 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Boogie, Funk 1 Comment

Artist: Mandre
Title: M3000
Year: 1979
Label: Motown
Format: Vinyl LP (Original)
Flwrpt Rating of this Record: 2.0/5.0

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Review
Hmmm…I wonder where Andre Benjamin of Outkast came up with his alias, as Andre 3000? If I had to take a wild guess, I would say that he was influenced by the legendary Michael Andre Lewis, who went by the stage name of Mandre, and titled his last LP M3000 (which stood for Mandre3000). Get the connection?

This LP is actually not that good, and I hate to say that, for the simple fact that Mandre was such a great group early on, as Maxayn, and later with the first Mandre album. This was the groups final album, M3000. They did NOT go out with a bang. In fact, the only two tracks that are worth a listen, I have included in this post, and they SAVE this album for me. I expected so much more from a group with so much talent, it came to a point where they let the electronic equipment control them, and completely take over their signature musicianship.

Check out the sound!

M3000 (Opus VI)

L’Oasis

Design
I like the logo a lot, with the reflection…this cover is pretty bold overall. Not quite sure what the back cover represents, it’s a little out there, but it’s fitting for the sound of this record. But it’s definitely an eye-catching cover, I just wish the music was consistent.

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Additional info on Mandre

The Fantaaaaaaaaaaaaastic.

Friday: April 4, 2008 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Boogie, Soul 4 Comments

Artist: Aleem featuring Leroy Burgess
Title: Casually Formal
Year: 1986
Label: Atlantic
Format: Vinyl LP (Original)
Flwrpt Rating of this Record: 4.0/5.0

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Review
You have to be a fan of 80′s music to really appreciate this album, it really captures the essence of that 1986 sound…and captures it very well. I LOVE this record, bottom line. The Aleems are twin brothers (Taharqa & Tunde-Ra Aleem) who teamed up with a buddy, Leroy Burgess (the king of boogie and former Black Ivory lead singer), who just so happened to live in the same building as they did in Harlem growing up. Turns out that the album was completed by the twin brothers alone, but they did not like the way that their vocals sounded on the tracks, so they asked Burgess to join the group as lead singer, and to help write, produce and compose some of the tracks. That was the best move that they could have made, because this turned out to be a CLASSIC underground boogie and soul lp. The sound is really synthetic…REALLY synthetic, some of the tracks were produced using programs on the 1986 Apple IIc computer…that shows that they embraced the technology, as well as the switch to electronic instruments and synthetic sounds. I can dig that, because a lot of musicians who made the switch were heavily scrutinized by traditionalist elitists. The Aleems featuring Leroy Burgess actually made beautiful music, and the arrangements by the trio are fantaaaaaaaaaaaastic! They all play instruments, so they understand chords, and they had a formula for “feel good”…so the sounds were something of beauty, the electronic instrumentation was on point.

Herbie Hancock put it best…”the electronic equipment is like an axe, it can be used to chop wood to build a house, or it can be used as a weapon to slaughter your neighbor. With synthesizers, they can produce sounds that hurt the ears, or produce beautiful sounds that draw you in…”. So it’s really about WHO is using it and HOW, not WHAT you use.

Enjoy.

Check out the sound!

Think

Stay

Loves On Fire

Design
The design is definitely cheesy. But you MUST give it to these grown men for going hard enough to rock out with white tuxedo jackets and dress shirts, with red bow-ties and cumberbun’s!!! LOL!!! They also have on some sort of weird Wrangler-looking denim with the snow white Reebok’s on…not to mention that these cats are captured in mid air (shaking my head in shame)…and Leroy Burgess has the nerve to sport a jerry-curl (he’s still the MAN though!). The photographer and stylist should have been fired immediately!!! LOL!!!

I will say, however, that although the props on the back cover (specifically the table and chairs) are lame, the composition and the idea…I like…which is that a tab was paid, and a couple split, to get home and reeeeeeeeeeeeally get the night started.

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Additional info on Aleem featuring Leroy Burgess

Black Panthers Stand Up.

Wednesday: April 2, 2008 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Soul 1 Comment

Artist: Elaine Brown
Title: Self-titled
Year: 1973
Label: Black Forum
Format: Vinyl LP (Original)
Flwrpt Rating of this Record: 3.5/5.0

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Review
Let me start off by saying that Elaine Brown was the former chairperson for the Black Panther party, she was a Panther from 1967 to 1977 (which is the year that they disbanded). She is a very strong, very outspoken black woman! As for her music, it was ALL about the struggle of African-Americans, it was about what she saw, what she felt, and what she wanted others to see and feel. She also was all about STRENGTH! Her lyrics are very deep, they’re all printed on the sleeve of this lp, and I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to read through them. From the tracks that I’ve posted, listen CLOSELY to what she’s saying.

This album was released on Black Forum, a very political driven label, and a sub-division of Motown. Most of the records under this division are rare, definitely out of press and were not re-issued.

The self-titled lp Elaine Brown was produced by Fonce Mizell (of the great Mizell Brothers), and Freddie Perren…so that alone speaks for the quality of the music. They set the mood for this record, and it’s almost like story-telling music, the sound is amazing to me. Her voice is VERY unique, really a different vocal pattern, but it’s ownable, and original.

Check out the sound!

Child In The World

I Know Who You Are

Design
This cover is great. From the very accurate pencil drawing, to the African pattern gracing the border. The font is bold, which it needs to be, because everything about her music is BOLD. Her record cover feels…how her music sounds…

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Additional info on Elaine Brown

Players.

Tuesday: April 1, 2008 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Boogie, Soul Leave a comment

Artist: The Players Association
Title: Self-Titled
Year: 1977
Label: Vanguard
Format: Vinyl LP (Original)
Flwrpt Rating of this Record: 4.75/5.0

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Review
All I can say is…WOW! (Spelled backwards…WOW) This is another one of those records I saw in the record store, intrigued by the record label (because I’m used to only seeing disco 12′ releases from Vangaurd, not full LP’s), and gave it a listen. After hearing the first track…I knew that I was buying this lp…PERIOD. I love finding records like this, obscure, and that possess an amazing sound quality. This particular piece demonstrates two styles coming together, boogie, and mellowed-out soul grooves. I’d particularly like to point out “Moon In Pisces”, which is my favorite track on the record, (and not just because I am a Pisces), but this song has a really distinct sound that was ahead of its time in my opinion, similar to RAMP, it almost sets the listener up for what (neo soul/soul) music would become for this generation. Some of the other tracks that I’ve chosen to feature are high-energy, feel-good tracks that are deserving of something other than simply dancing, it’s LIFE music.

Check out the sound!

Moon In Pisces

I Like It

Hustlin’

Design
Not really the greatest cover, but the model that they photographed is interesting. She becomes almost sculptural. There’s no concept, so there’s not much to say about this cover, I’m not exactly sure of what message they want to get across, if any. And I’m definitely not a fan of the font chosen. With a group named The Players Association, they are supposed to have a nice lockup…not this random Shakey’s Pizza looking logo.

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Additional info on The Players Association

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