Dakar Records
1973

Looped by the likes of G Rap, Jay Z, Large Pro and others, this is one of those 70s soul tracks many of us heard sampled long before we discovered the original. Hamilton Bohannon is mostly revered for his later disco stuff, but his first studio album, 1973’s “Stop and Go”, has some psychedelic joints on it. Hamilton got his start playing drums for Stevie Wonder on his first tour.

Trojan Records
1974

An old soul cover from 1974 on Dickie Wong’s Jamaican label, Tit for Tat. Al Brown was a founding member of the reggae band Skin Flesh & Bones, with Sly Dunbar and Ansel Collins. He also sang for The Paragons. This was pretty much his only hit. Oddly enough, Skin Flesh & Bones covered one of Bohannon’s early 45s, called South African Man, which has funky weird time signature.

Al King Records
1971

The organ sound on this record OMFG… A Hammond B3 with one of those rotating cabinets. Sheeeit. This is Larry Ellis and The Black Hammer, making funk in 1969 that rivals anything George Clinton ever produced. They only pressed a few hundred of these, but they’ve made their way into plenty of samplers since then. Larry eventually gave up the funk and founded his own church in Syracuse called God’s Way Church of Jesus on Salina Street. He was revered in his community for his work with the NAACP and local gang members, often driving around in his van on a “Prayer Patrol”, preaching the good word. He passed in 2012.

Big Crown Records
2016

Speaking of funky, this is the Bacao Rhythm & Steel band from Hamburg Germany doing a cover of a song you may or may not know. This has been a favorite of B-Boys since way back, when Cat Stevens briefly ventured into drum machine territory in 1977, to little acclaim. Jellybean Benitez made an electro version in 1984, which is pretty true to the original. From what I gather, this band is basically a guy named Bjorn Wagner and some studio musicians. They’ve been laying down dope steel covers of all kinds of tracks. Check out their first album on Brooklyn’s own Big Crown Records.

Cadet Records
1968

I’m not sure if it’s because Kool G Rap sampled it, or what, but this song is so fucking gangsta to me. It really makes me want to pimp walk into Madame Zeonobia’s and order a bottle of Hennessy. Legendary Jazz pianist Ray Bryant released this in 1968. Ray was the house piano man at the Blue Note in Philly in the early 50s. There he played with everybody from Miles to Bird to Sonny Rollins and Lester Young. He was a staple on the Jazz scene for decades, touring with Diz and Art Blakey, and even backing Aretha on her first album.

Atlantic Records
1975

Black Heat was a fiery 1970s funk band from Washington D.C., known for their powerful grooves and a fuzzy, psychedelic edge. This is from  their 1974 album No Time to Burn. They disbanded in 1975.

Mercury Records
1977

Is it real son, is it really real son, Let me know it's real son, if it's really real. Something I could feel son, load it up and kill one, want it raw deal son, if it's really reeeal. Jerry Butler grew up in Cabrini Green, meeting Curtis Mayfield in the local church choir. The rest, as they say, is history. These days he serves as a Commissioner in Cook County, on a board that oversees hospitals and construction projects.

Strut Records
2019

Finnish multi-instrumentalist Jimi Tenor and Afrobeat godfather Tony Allen released an album as part of Strut Records “Inspiration Information” series, which paired up musical geniuses like Amp Fiddler & Sly and Robbie, or Horace Andy & Ashley Beedle.

Compost Records
2011

The Bad Jazz Troupe were a Munich-based funk outfit made up of bassist Jerker Kluge and a guy named Dusty. I don’t think they were around for very long, but I can always dig some afrobeat-ish grooves.

G-Stone Recordings
2003

A lively reggae cover from 2003 by This Kid Named Miles aka Miles Tackett, DJ, musician and leader of Breakestra, the West Coast bros who started putting out Hip Hop inspired funk jams in the late 90s on Stones Throw. He still gets down with all sorts of cats, including the all star tribute to Sharon Jones a few weeks back at The Regent in downtown LA.

MCA
1978

A weird, all-star side project from 1978 called Giants from Sly & The Family Stone’s drummer Greg Errico. Most of the record really doesn’t live up to the promise of having Herbie Hancock, Carlos Santana, Neil Schon, and Coke Escovedo on one record. This track is the standout tho, with WAR’s Lee Oskar laying down some nice harmonica on the back end. I edited to be a bit shorter, because it wanders in percussion land for an exceedingly long time. It reminds me of a lot of the worldbeat-ish stuff Island Records was putting out in the early 80s.

Essiebons
1972

Some smoking Highlife from late 70s Ghana courtesy of Oscar Sulley & The Uhuru Dance Band. If you dig this, check out his other certified banger, Bukom Mashie.

Colemine

2017

Some brand new output - a collabo with the West Coast’s Orgone and the horn section from Brooklyn’s own Ikebe Shakedown. These dudes have really mastered recreating the lof-fi analog rawness of late 70s funk. Not mad.

Columbia Records
1977

Yes, you heard that right! Miracle of miracles! In 2017 I finally got my hands on this version of the Earth Wind & Fire classic, which has been floating around DJ circles for years - appearing on random compilations, bootlegs, and most recently a 45. So while it may not be “new”, it’s new to me, dammit. I also recently discovered that this song has always been an uncredited, loose interpretation of Milton Nascimento’s “Beijo Partido”. The parallels may not be immediately recognizable to the ear, but listen close and you’ll hear the melody.

Fantasy Records
1970

My man The Reflex aka Nicholas Laugier does his thing once more, giving Creedence Clearwater Revival some serious dance floor cred. The best thing about this dude is that he remixes tracks with great reverence, never adding in any additional modern sounds - just working with what he can get from the multitrack stems. This way, nothing sounds our of place or forced, and it just becomes the 12” version you had always dreamed of.

Mercury Records
1970

What to say about Exuma? Dude was definitely a one of a kind mother fucker. He was born in the Bahamas and made his way to NY in the early 60s. Within a few years, he had dropped out of architecture school and was a regular at Greenwich Village landmarks like Cafe Wha and The Bitter End, playing on bills with Bob Dylan, Hendrix, Peter Paul & Mary, and Richie Havens. Come to think of it, he sounds a lot like Richie Havens, but with his signature island twist of Bahamian Junkanoo. I came to know this song from the Soul Jazz compilation Nicky Siano's Legendary The Gallery , which I do very much recommend. Nicky, you might say, was sort of the Yang to David Mancuso’s Yin, laying the groundwork for the NY club scene and DJs worldwide with obscure B-sides, left field tracks, and forgotten album cuts in the early 70s. I owe a great debt to both of these dudes.

Afrodisia Records
1972

One more Afrobeat gem from the man himself, Tony Allen, whom Brian Eno called “the greatest drummer who has ever lived”. This is from Tony’s first solo work after splitting with Fela Kuti in 1978. I’m guessing that’s Candido Obajimi on vocals.

RCA Victor
1975

Very solid and celebrated Afro-Disco-ish track from 1975, led by Ghana’s own Sidiku Buari, with an all-NY backing band, including Bernard Purdie on drums.

One Note Records
2003

Leeds own The New Mastersounds lays down a smooth yet uptempo jam to finish out the mix. This is actually a James Brown cover, by way of Grant Green, and it appears on their 2016 album “The Nashville Sessions”.