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Early '70s Soul

#63
Also here we are at the end of the 70s but is ensemble is Philly sound trademark.
The whole album is a masterpiece IMO... can't exclude that it ain't been played in the discos or clubs of the period (ref. S. Diego's post), however the music is decidedly soul albeit sophisticated and the P bass sound of this LP is the one I'm looking for (however it bends a little towards the edgy side of the 70s P bass sound)... enjoy
 
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#69
Booty Shaman said:
I really love Curtis Mayfield. The Superfly album is fantastic and also "Move on up".
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Superfly is great, but it seems most people only know one or two from that album. He has a huge output that is equal or better.

That was the unfortunate thing about all the great soul/R&B/funk from that period. It didn't get picked up by mainstream radio. It was a time of a kind of weird unspoken segregation where if it was "too black" you couldn't mix it into the mainstream. I got robbed of Mayfield, James Brown, Isleys, and so many more because I was listening to mainstream radio (AM and FM) with its steady diet of "Disco Duck" and "Stairway to Heaven." Many years later, thanks to movie soundtracks and commercial advertisements, most of us finally got the education that was stolen from us in real time.
 
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#70
I was in U of W and dropped out to join the army. There I met a band of urban players who turned me on to a whole world of outstanding music. In Europe, where we played (USO tour) we had the fortune to play behind some legends from Motown. I always thought they were kind of "square" from their hits, but man, in concert, these cats could GROOVE.

I took my bass learnings to heart and in the late 70's I returned to school after the army and played in "funk" bands until the early 80's. This was My P bass/J bass /Ampeg SVT 810 era, and my job was to drive the bottom end. I loved that sound! Looking back at my entire bass career (such as it is LOL) I think I felt most empowered and happy during this era. Without further ado, some songs I played and some I just listened to and loved

Played in Europe:





God I loved playing this one live:



This was fun to play, as much as I loved the Isley Brothers version, this one just had a tightness to it



Then funk started merging with a jazzy sound... again AWB



This album blew me away, EWF seemed light years ahead of everyone musically, always experimenting.
Verdine White-- need I say more? :D



The Brothers Johnson were the end of that era, they were so so cool their music was funky but written in odd time changes at times, which made it even cooler to me:



 
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#74
Ant Illington said:
Al Wilson Show and Tell. I didn't know it was a cover (don't forget Lou Rawls, by the way).... This song was 1973 but check out this performance. I never get tired of it- if it doesn't bring a smile to your face or a tear to your eye, go get yourself checked out.

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The guy who played bass on this used to post here fairly often. I forget the name. It wasn't Scott Edwards or the usual suspects. According to Al Wilson producer Jerry Fuller, it wasn't Jamerson either, a correction to be made in any next revision of the "SITSOM" book.
 
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#75
alaskaleftybass said:
Then funk started merging with a jazzy sound... again AWB



The Brothers Johnson were the end of that era, they were so so cool their music was funky but written in odd time changes at times, which made it even cooler to me:



Click to expand...

I love all the stuff you posted...that said, huge AWB fan here. Shine is the start of AWB's "David Foster-era". Clearly, they jumped the shark with this one (& Volume VIII).
Granted, I dug the Foster gloss back then...years later, not so much. Chicago, EW&F, The Tubes also fell prey to Foster-ization.
YMMV.

BTW, fans of the Brothers Johnson debut need Mellow Madness by Quincy Jones. Same time frame...the young brothers are bringin' it.
(What BJ tunes are in odd times? I'm drawing a blank).
 
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#76
JimK said:
I love all the stuff you posted...that said, huge AWB fan here. Shine is the start of AWB's "David Foster-era". Clearly, they jumped the shark with this one (& Volume VIII).
Granted, I dug the Foster gloss back then...years later, not so much. Chicago, EW&F, The Tubes also fell prey to Foster-ization.
YMMV.

BTW, fans of the Brothers Johnson debut need Mellow Madness by Quincy Jones. Same time frame...the young brothers are bringin' it.
(What BJ tunes are in odd times? I'm drawing a blank).
Click to expand...

Thank you for the compliment. The only thing I have to say about Foster is besides his glossiness, he did help bring front and center some incredible artists. To this day EWF is still top of the food chain for musicianship. I recently watched "Foster and Friends" on Youtube and yes, it was glossy but I never realized how many talented bands he helped push off into stardom. What's funny is he could have been Tom Bergeron's twin brother from Dancing With The Stars! :laugh:
 

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