Category Archives: Soul

Obscure Discovery: Albino Gorilla.

Friday: November 20, 2009 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Funk, Soul 2 Comments

Artist: Albino Gorilla
Title: Detroit 1984
Year: 1970
Label: Kama Sutra
Format: Vinyl LP (Original)

Albino Gorilla

I actually don’t like the music on this LP, however, I chose to post the album cover and tell you a little about the group.

Albino Gorilla was a studio project, they’re not a real group, just a bunch of Detroit studio musicians and vocalists who came together and produced this album. The entire record, with the exception of the instrumental interludes, are covers of Motown Records material (Psychadelic Shack, Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, etc.). Although I appreciate the originality of the cover music, I wasn’t thrilled with their execution. To remake hit songs, and fail at making them sounding as good, defeats the purpose.

What makes this album worth adding to the collection, however, is the cover art and the pure intrigue. Simple, but very bold typography, a cool punch-out production technique (which allows for the Gorilla to be lifted up and used as a flap, giving the appearance of a die-cut flap), and finally, just the overall illustration of the albino gorilla, and the subtle silhouette of a very dark and desolate inner city Detroit in the background. I was totally drawn to this LP! Even more drawn in due to the fact that there is not much information floating around about this album…its mysterious vibe still has me. It’s also really cool that they decided to release this rare album under the name of a SUPER RARE existence of a gorilla, the albino gorilla.

I just wish the music was as good as the album cover.

This record was sampled by a few producers, and actually made for some pretty dope hip-hop records, check one of them out below…

Pete Rock – For the People

Wild and Peaceful.

Monday: November 9, 2009 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Funk, Jazz, Soul 1 Comment

Artist: Kool & the Gang
Title: Wild and Peaceful
Year: 1973
Label: De-Lite
Format: Vinyl LP (Original)
Flwrpt Rating of this Record: 4.75/5.0

Front Cover

Review
One of the most consistent bands in the history of music, Kool & the Gang deliver a great LP once again! The album is primarily a funk, party type of vibe, however, the jazz element is brought to life in the title track “Wild & Peaceful” (which happens to be an AMAZING piece of music). The thing that always sticks out most about this groups music, is their unique ability to arrange songs, sounds simple…but its not. The way the music is written and performed is a thing of beauty, it’s timeless music, it’s special music. This is easily one of my favorite albums from these guys. Enjoy…

Check out the sound!

Hollywood Swinging

Jungle Boogie

Funky Stuff

Wild and Peaceful

Design
I absolutely love this cover! The painting has an intentionally abstracted perspective, but a really unique illustration style overall. It also takes the title of the LP very seriously…the composition is made up of several wild animals (animals that typically cannot co-exist), living together peacefully within their environment. The colors are sort of dim overall, but that adds a nice warmth to the piece…which works very nicely with the title track (which I’ve uploaded for your listening pleasure above). Another really nice element is the choice of type! Seeing as though the art is pretty busy, the type needed to find a way to live on the page…the protruding knockout lettering did the trick. Adding a slight arch to the type helps it stand on its own as well. Minor detail like that can go a long way…it’s all about detail, ALWAYS.

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Additional info on Kool & the Gang

Gordon's War.

Friday: October 23, 2009 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Funk, Soul 6 Comments

Artist: Various
Title: Gordon’s War (Original Soundtrack)
Year: 1973
Label: Buddah
Format: Vinyl LP (Original)
Flwrpt Rating of this Record: 4.75/5.0

Front Cover

Review
Gordon’s War is one of the best blaxploitation action film soundtracks ever created. It’s the quintessential funk record of the 70′s. Wah-wah guitars, killer drum breaks, smooth grooves, all of these elements make for a great album…and the film-inspired instrumentation make for an amazing soundtrack. Each track tells a story through the music, just read the song titles…close your eyes, then listen. Every 70′s film had a classic “chase” scene, typically these scenes are accompanied by a funky upbeat tune to keep you at the edge of your seat…well this albums chase scene is called “Hot Wheels”, and it has to be one of the BEST pieces of funk that I’ve ever heard. Most of the record was created by a little-known studio group called “Badder Than Evil”, and I have to say, prior to this record I’ve never heard of them. They’re not really well-documented outside of the work they did for this particular soundtrack, but regardless, they did their thing! Enjoy…

Check out the sound!

Hot Wheels

Tell That Man to Go to Hell

Just Plain Luther

Harlem Dreams

Design
I really dig the lockup at the top. “Gordon’s War” typeset in Avant Garde Bold, with the words being separated by a black graphic of a Tommy Gun…with bullet holes randomly placed throughout the words, and even throughout the “featured artists” graphic on the left. All of these aspects are cool…but it doesn’t stop there, below is an illustration of Gordon (Paul Winfield), 9mm in hand, stomping on a heroin syringe! That’s an amazing image there…especially since the movie is about Gordon returning home from Vietnam, and cleaning up the drug scene in his neighborhood. But what puts it over the top is the cherrywine-colored tuxedo, pumped fist, and the big heel protruding forward (it’s simply just a dope perspective). Having this cover on white gives the whole thing more shape, and even a weird bit of a nice tension, having the headshot of Barbara Mason stuffed at the top right. Super cool cover.

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Additional info on Gordon’s War

Too Hot To Handle.

Sunday: October 11, 2009 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Disco, Funk, Soul 2 Comments

Artist: Heatwave
Title: Too Hot To Handle
Year: 1976
Label: Epic
Format: Vinyl LP (Original)
Flwrpt Rating of this Record: 3.75/5.0

Front Cover

Review
This is Heatwave’s debut LP. In short, this record was very successful and earned them respect. It’s a diverse record, but very strict in its genre disciplines throughout. They touch on all sounds from soul love ballads, to disco, to funk, to jazz even. Heatwave had a very buttoned-up sound, very clean and crisp…something I’m usually not drawn into, but they were produced by Rod Temperton, so one cannot help but to fall in love with the music. The lead singer Johnnie Wilder, Jr is another major reason why this album gets major play, his voice had craaaaazy range, as expressed in the classic, “Always and Forever” where he demonstrates his ability to effectively sing in falsetto, tenor, and baritone without flaw! Enjoy the tunes…

Check out the sound!

Always and Forever

All You Do Is Dial

Lay It On Me

Design
The cover is a funky illustration of their record melting on the concrete, obviously there’s a heatwave in town (pun intended). It’s a strong cover, however, the type is not helping out…not playing its part, it makes the cover seem a tad cheesy with the wavy effect added to it. The melting scene itself did the job.

The cover that I have is the US released LP. The group had an alternate cover for the European release of the record which looked like this.

Video

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Additional info on Heatwave

Soul Train Line: Aretha Franklin

Saturday: October 10, 2009 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Soul, Video 2 Comments

Soul Train dancers gettin’ down to “Rock Steady”, by Aretha Franklin (circa 1972). This is one my favorite sets, the dancers REALLY get into this one…a lot of classic steps happen in this video. The vibe is infectious! Enjoy…

Pillow Talk.

Saturday: September 26, 2009 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Soul 10 Comments

Artist: Sylvia
Title: Pillow Talk
Year: 1973
Label: Vibration
Format: Vinyl LP (Original)
Flwrpt Rating of this Record: 3.0/5.0
Foot Fungus
Front Cover

Review
I’ll start by stating that this woman’s lyrics and voice are pure SEX. Ladies and gentleman this is the debut album, Pillow Talk, by none other than Sylvia. She was very underrated as an artist, and as a result, many of you have unfortunately never heard any of her music. She is without a doubt, the Minnie Ripperton of the underground. This album was bold, edgy, and risqué…it dealt with love and sex, but not just simply on the surface, Sylvia painted visual pictures through her lyrics. She definitely was NOT afraid to express sexuality through her songs, and in 1973, that was a pretty BIG deal. The sound is very mellow, very lo-fi, but vibrates and gives off a sense of heat in a way.

Check her info on Wikipedia (Sylvia Robinson), you’ll be surprised at how she had a hand in commercializing hip-hop music. Enjoy the music selections below…

Check out the sound!

Gimme A Little Action

The Next Time That I See You

Pillow Talk

Design
I get it, it’s supposed to be sexy. Uhhhh…

Anyway, the type treatment could’ve been better, but there’s something interesting about that crazy background, I can’t quite figure out what it is, which is mainly what had intrigued me about it, maybe it’s some sort of tiled mirror.

What I’ve observed is that Sylvia has chosen to stay away from the huge AFRO which dominated cover art back in the 70′s, instead she has a loooong pigtail and slicked down baby hair…interesting!

Video

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Additional info on Sylvia

Love Satellite.

Thursday: September 17, 2009 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Jazz, Soul Leave a comment

Artist: Ronnie Foster
Title: Love Satellite
Year: 1978
Label: Columbia
Format: Vinyl LP (Original)
Flwrpt Rating of this Record: 4.0/5.0

Front Cover

Review
Solid LP from the talented keyboardist/pianist/organist Ronnie Foster. This album represents his style post-Blue Note. Sonically, this is where his sound took off I would say…he really began experimenting with synthesizers, exploring a crisp sound, and including more vocals into his work. He was very successful with this release, Love Satellite. Foster is really good friends with Stevie Wonder, and he contributed to the production of this record, along with other great studio musicians such as drummer Harvey Mason. They all come together to create a great sound here, have a listen…

Check out the sound!

Love Satellite

Happy Song

Design
I’m always a fan of a pre-photoshop image manipulation of some sort. This cover was created in 1978, notice the overlay technique of the profile shot, versus the straight-forward shot. Simple, but very graphic! The cream border is a nice elegant touch, and the wide typeface living within it jives nicely. This is an effective cover, and there’s something about it suggesting speed, or some sort of sonic sound (maybe that’s just me).

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Additional info on Ronnie Foster

Just Outside of Town.

Thursday: September 10, 2009 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Funk, Soul 2 Comments

Artist: Mandrill
Title: Just Outside of Town
Year: 1973
Label: Polydor
Format: Vinyl LP (Original)
Flwrpt Rating of this Record: 3.5/5.0

Front Cover

Review
Heavily sampled LP, Just Outside of Town, by Mandrill. This LP is super funky, like most of their albums, but this one has that ’73 edge to it. Dope arrangements, versatile tracks from start to finish…Mandrill is really good at fusing their hardcore funk sound with latin music from time to time within their works. So much to say about this band as their discography is very solid, but scroll down and have a listen…

Just an interesting note, some say that Mandrill influenced Earth, Wind & Fire to add a horn section to their band, after EWF heard Mandrill perform live early on in their career.

Check out the sound!

Love Song

Mango Meat

Fat City Strut

Design
The cover is simple but pretty awesome in the “group shot” style of photography. The location is perfect for this cover, it goes hand in hand with the title of the LP. This is not a scouted location it seems, which adds that raw edge to it. Their composition looks natural as well. That font is like, the most popular font used from ’70 to ’74 it seems, I’ve seen it so many times, I don’t dislike it but there’s nothing about it that excites me anymore. Overall, a VERY strong cover.

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Additional info on Mandrill

Wasted.

Wednesday: September 9, 2009 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Funk, Jazz, Soul Leave a comment

Artist: The Gaturs
Title: Wasted
Year: 1970
Label: Gaturs Records
Format: Vinyl LP (Original)
Flwrpt Rating of this Record: 4.75/5.0

Front Cover

Review
The Gaturs are one of the best unheard-of funk groups in music history, representing the very strong New Orleans funk scene of the 70′s. They didn’t sound like the other artists and bands who came out of that same scene, legends like The Meters and Allan Toussaint just to name a couple. But The Gaturs held their own…their funk sound is HEAVY, RICH, and deeply rooted in the bayou funk style. This album is their only full LP, which makes it that much more special. Truly, a lost gem and one of my favorite records to date…

Check out the sound!

Cold Bear

Gator Bait

Concentrate

Man That I Am

Design
This cover isn’t the greatest, however, it has that raw, gritty look and feel that appeals to me for some odd reason. The photo here is an “in-the-moment” capture of the group performing live, and that energy just travels directly through to whoever is interacting with the cover. The bold “Gaturs” logo is also a bit rough around the edges, but still has a dominant presence and really owns the 12″ x 12″ canvas. Something about it, I can dig…

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Additional info on The Gaturs

There It Is.

Tuesday: September 8, 2009 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Funk, Soul Leave a comment

Artist: James Brown
Title: There It Is
Year: 1972
Label: Polydor
Format: Vinyl LP (Original)
Flwrpt Rating of this Record: 4.5/5.0

Front Cover

Review
As you all know, James Brown is the man! Very rarely will he create a bad record, this just happens to be one of my favorite records from the Godfather of soul, There It Is, from ’72. This album features a hot spoken word track, called “King Heroin”, arguably one of the most powerful drug cuts ever created. Brown uses this track to speak to those who are letting the white horse of heroin “carry them to hell”…brace your ears for some dope music!

Check out the sound!

There It Is

I’m A Greedy Man

King Heroin

Design
This is a pretty decent cover. The illustration is fresh, type is okay, coloring is okay…nothing really stands out about this to me, except for the back cover (which I didn’t photograph), which has an illustration of a white horse, with a man riding it to hell (again with the drug metaphor). Other than that, this cover is not necessarily one of my favorites.

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Additional info on James Brown

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