2 x LP: £21.99
Label: BGP
Release date: 01.01.2016
Label: BGP
Release date: 01.01.2016
In the late 60s there was a panic going on at jazz record companies. Records just weren't selling - sure Ella or Miles were shifting units, the big international stars, but new acoustic talent was having a hard time. Soul and funk was what was being danced to in the clubs. There was one ray of hope shining through. Since 1967, when Lou Donaldson had scored a Top 10 R&B album with Alligator Bogaloo his band had developed a hybrid of funky jazz that was selling units and filling the clubs. Donaldson's band, built upon Idris Muhammad's drumming base, played a mixture of originals and covers of hits by artists such as James Brown and Lee Dorsey. Donaldson's label Blue Note might have been expected to work this trend and to a certain extent they did with Grant Green, but it was across the river in New Jersey that Prestige's new staff producer Bob Porter really took advantage. Using Lou's band as both a talent pool and a rhythm section he signed Muhammad, Charles Earland and Melvin Sparks. And once he'd done that he rounded up some more - Sparks' friend Leon Spencer, Grant Green with Jack McDuff's recommendation Funk Inc. He then got funky with a whole host of acts that included Rusty Bryant, Gene Ammons and Charles Kynard, who were already signed to Prestige. This merry band then started creating records that made jazz fun and made you want to dance. The albums charted and the funkiest tracks were edited down on to 45 so that you could have some fine three minute slices of groove on the neighbourhood juke box without your beer drinking being confused by intricate solos. These singles weren't especially aimed at selling through shops and are now quite hard to find. With this in mind BGP has decided to round the best of them up, put them alongside some of the funkiest Prestige album tracks and create one of the funkiest albums you are EVER likely to get your hands on. Classic cuts such as Gene Ammons' Jungle Strut, and Rusty Bryant's Fire-Eater take on a whole new meaning as they are edited down to 7 inch size. Idris Muhammad's covers of James Brown and Charles Wright are incendiary pieces of funk and it sounds as if Funk Inc's Sister Sadie was recorded about two minutes after hearing Sex Machine on the local radio ..... AIN'T IT FUNKY NOW! is an entry into a parallel jazz universe where Donaldson is more important than Coltrane and getting a groove counts for more than your solo. It's not that you necessarily want to live there, but it's certainly where you would want your night outs!
What a comp! Funky nuggets for DJ's and home-hifi's (with living room dancefloors)!
A1 Rusty Bryant– Fire-Eater
Drums – Idris Muhammad
Engineer – Rudy Van Gelder
Guitar – Wilbert Longmire
Organ – Bill Mason
Tenor Saxophone – Rusty Bryant
3:14
A2 Melvin Sparks– Who's Gonna Take The Weight
Drums – Idris Muhammad
Engineer – Rudy Van Gelder
Guitar – Melvin Sparks
Organ – Leon Spencer, Jr.
Tenor Saxophone – Grover Washington, Jr.
Trumpet – Virgil Jones
3:24
A3 Idris Muhammad– Super Bad
Congas – Buddy Caldwell
Drums – Idris Muhammad
Electric Bass – Jimmy Lewis (2)
Electric Piano – Harold Mabern
Engineer – Rudy Van Gelder
Guitar – Melvin Sparks
Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Clarence Thomas
Trumpet – Virgil Jones
2:11
A4 Funk Inc.– Sister Janie
Congas – Cecil Hunt
Drums – Jimmy Munford
Engineer – Rudy Van Gelder
Guitar – Steve Weakley
Organ – Bobby Watley
Tenor Saxophone – Gene Barr*
5:16
B1 Idris Muhammad– Don't Knock My Love
Congas – Buddy Caldwell
Drums, Gong, Cowbell, Cabasa [Cabassa], Horn [autohorn] – Idris Muhammad
Electric Bass – Jimmy Lewis (2)
Engineer – Rudy Van Gelder
Flute, Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Bells – Clarence Thomas
Guitar – Alan Fontaine, Melvin Sparks
Trumpet – Virgil Jones
4:50
B2 Gene Ammons– Jungle Strut
Drums – Bernard Purdie
Electric Bass – Bob Bushnell
Engineer – Rudy Van Gelder
Guitar – Billy Butler (3)
Organ – Sonny Phillips
Tenor Saxophone – Gene Ammons
2:24
B3 Boogaloo Joe Jones*– Right On
Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Rusty Bryant
Drums – Bernard Purdie
Electric Bass – Jimmy Lewis (2)
Engineer – Rudy Van Gelder
Guitar – Joe Jones*
Organ – Charlie Earland*
3:00
B4 Charles Earland– Black Talk (Pt. 1)
Congas – Buddy Caldwell
Drums – Idris Muhammad
Engineer – Rudy Van Gelder
Guitar – Melvin Sparks
Organ – Charles Earland
Tenor Saxophone – Houston Person
Trumpet – Virgil Jones
2:48
B5 Melvin Sparks– Thank You (Pt. 1)
Drums – Idris Muhammad
Engineer – Rudy Van Gelder
Guitar – Melvin Sparks
Organ – Leon Spencer
Tenor Saxophone – John Manning
Trumpet – Virgil Jones
3:07
C1 Idris Muhammad– Express Yourself
Congas – Buddy Caldwell
Drums – Idris Muhammad
Electric Bass – Jimmy Lewis (2)
Electric Piano – Harold Mabern
Engineer – Rudy Van Gelder
Guitar – Melvin Sparks
Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Clarence Thomas
Trumpet – Virgil Jones
2:24
C2 Leon Spencer*– Message From The Meters
Congas – Buddy Caldwell
Drums – Idris Muhammad
Engineer – Rudy Van Gelder
Guitar – Melvin Sparks
Organ – Leon Spencer, Jr.
Tenor Saxophone – Grover Washington, Jr.
Trumpet – Virgil Jones
6:42
C3 Gene Ammons– Son Of A Preacher Man
Drums – Bernard Purdie
Electric Bass – Bob Bushnell
Engineer – Rudy Van Gelder
Guitar – Billy Butler (3)
Organ – Sonny Phillips
Tenor Saxophone – Gene Ammons
3:13
C4 Charles Kynard– Reelin' With The Feeling
Drums – Paul Humphrey
Electric Bass – Carol Kaye
Guitar – Joe Pass
Organ – Charles Kynard
Tenor Saxophone – Wilton Felder
7:12
D1 Charles Earland– Sing A Simple Song
Drums – Jimmy Turner
Engineer – Rudy Van Gelder
Flute, Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Jimmy Heath
Guitar – Maynard Parker
Organ – Charles Earland
Trombone – Clayton Pruden
Trumpet – Virgil Jones
2:52
D2 Freddie McCoy– Listen Here (Pt. 1)
Bass – Raymond McKinney*
Drums – Al Dreares
Electric Piano – Joanne Brackeen
Engineer – Rudy Van Gelder
Vibraphone – Freddie McCoy
3:03
D3 Charles Earland– Girl You Need A Change Of Mind
Baritone Saxophone, Alto Flute – Seldon Powell
Drums, Percussion – Darryl Washington
Guitar – Stuart Scharf
Organ, Electric Piano, Percussion – Charles Earland
Tenor Saxophone, Alto Flute – Billy Harper
Trombone – Garnett Brown
Trombone, Tuba – Jack Jeffers
3:40
D4 Harold Mabern– I Want You Back
Drums – Idris Muhammad
Electric Bass – Buster Williams
Engineer – Rudy Van Gelder
Piano – Harold Mabern
Tenor Saxophone, Flute – Hubert Laws
Trumpet – Lee Morgan
5:27
D5 Houston Person– Son Of Man
Congas – Buddy Caldwell
Drums – Idris Muhammad
Electric Bass – Jimmy Lewis (2)
Engineer – Rudy Van Gelder
Guitar – Grant Green
Organ – Sonny Phillips
Tenor Saxophone – Houston Person
Trumpet – Virgil Jones
3:11
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