THE UNDISPUTED TRUTH - DOWN TO EARTH (1974)

This, my dear visitors, will be the last post with a DivSh@re link in the header. DivSh@re tied their free users down to a 5 gig bandwidth limit and, as a result, none of the links hidden in the headers is available at this moment (except for the LP featured here today). Since there's always a highlighted R@pidSh@re link in my articles, you can still pick up all the previous rips. Make sure to always leave a comment in the most recent post if an album proves to be unavailable.

And now back to the lecture at hand. Considering the fact that none of the Undisputed Truth albums is available on CD, we might as well call them the 'Underrated Truth'. Eight studio albums, and only one or two lousy 'Best Of' compilations. A crying shame. The actual Undisputed Truth were Billie Rae Calvin, Brenda Joyce and Joe Harris. Billie and Brenda were once in a band called 'The Delicates' and Joe not only came from 'The Preps', but had also been with the Ohio Players in the sixties. So basically The Undisputed Truth was assembled from remnants of older Motown formations. The LP featured here today, 'Down To Earth', was their fourth release. Norman Whitfield produced the band and it is often said that he used The Undisputed Truth to try out all kinds of weird techniques; stuff he couldn't do with the Temptations. One thing is for sure: Norman Whitfield's sound, referred to as psychedelic soul, is all over this one. The hand claps on the eighth notes, trumpets with heavy reverb; it's all there. And for instance, "Law Of The Land", has a break that seems to be taken directly from Edwin Starr's "War", a song that also came from Whitfield. The same goes for "Big John Is My Name" which sounds like a follow-up to "Papa Was A Rolling Stone"; another Whitfield classic he recorded with the Temptations. Funny thing is that the very first version of "Papa Was..." was, in fact, taped by The Undisputed Truth. The danceable cuts are "Help Yourself", "Big John Is My Name", "I'm A Fool For You" and "Law Of The Land". Track three is a cover version of "Brother Louie" and this slow version, sung by Brenda Joyce is a real treat. The band also takes care of Al Green's "Love And Happiness" by the way. What I like best is that typical seventies sound of the rhythm box/drum machine that's used in some of the tracks. Does anyone know the brand name of these things? Anyway, "Down To Earth" is a great album and even though it's not available on CD, it's right here, at 320 Kbps! Let's see those replies folks!

NOTE: I wasn't able to remove the promo sticker on the front cover without damaging the cardboard. If anyone has a high resolution picture for us, feel free to post a link to the image in the reply field.

NOTE 2: the DivSh@re link in the header didn't work properly. I re-upped the file to DivSh@re for the last time. It should work fine now, I hope. If it sucks again, I will delete the DivSh@re link once and for all, and don't forget the R@pidSh@re link in the text, folks.

CAPTAIN SKY - THE ADVENTURES OF (1978)

As I announced the other day, it's time for my buddy and contributor Smooth to deliver another funk bomb for us all again. This time it's going to be a crate digger's ball! Captain Sky, better known as Daryl Cameron, is a vocalist, plays (rhythm) guitar and took piano- and music theory classes at the Chicago Conservatory of Chicago. He played in various high school bands and sang in the Seven Eighth Notes, where he did mostly Jazz standards and ballads. It was in 1977 that he developed his character: Captain Sky. The concept behind the name was authority and height (Daryl Cameron is 6 foot 6 tall) and in 1978 the Captain released his first single "Wonder Worm" followed by his debut album featured here today. "The Adventures Of" is a fantastic album. You do not want to miss this one. Especially the ones that are into Funk and P-Funk should immediately pick this one up. I'm not familiar with the band members, but I do know bass player Larry 'Spirit' Kimpel, 'cause he also plays bass in Maze. His work on this album is finger lickin' good. Anyway, the five tracks on this album kick ass. Big time. The most important tracks are "Wonder Worm" and "Super Sporm" (no typo), because those -more than ten minute long- anthems are fabulous p-funk cuts. The beat diggers amongst us will most probably wet their pants over "Super Sporm", 'cause Boogie Down Productions used the vocal quote 'Just Like I Told You' and the fat drum break for "You Must Learn". "Super Sporm" goes on and on for about twelve minutes and keeps you on your dancing feet. What a tremendous floor filler that is, guys! Funk DJs can't work without it, let me tell you that. The other two dance cuts, "Saturday Night Move-Ease" and "Can't Stop Now" are more disco-ish but the arrangements, vocals and drum breaks still breathe the heavy p-funk atmosphere that makes this album so good. The only ballad here is "Now That I Have You", a song that will allow you to catch your breath a bit. It's unbelievable that Captain Sky's "The Adventures Of" is not available on CD. Thanks to Smooth's efforts we can now play it loud again. Of course at 320 Kbps and let's see those replies, people!

NOTE: Track 1 and 2 were connected to each other on the original LP. With a good player, you won't notice the transition from 1 to 2, but if you play track 2 only, you'll notice that it begins with a snare drum instead of a bass kick. That bass kick is at the very, very end of track 1. DJs just have to edit that bass kick out of that last end of track 1 and paste it to the beginning of track 2. That way, if you play track 2 only, it'll begin properly. Catch my drift, guys? ;-)

IMPORTANT NOTE: Apparently DivSh@re is now, all of a sudden, tying their users down to data traffic limits. That's just great. Not. So as soon as a DivSh@re link is not available because of 'bandwidth limit exceeded', then please use the R@pidSh@re link you'll find in the text. So much for a 'free' account that's supposed to generate cash for DivSh@re through advertising...

BRAINSTORM - STORMIN' (1977)

So finally I got the rip (with a bonus!) online, people. DivSh@re has been sucking big time lately. Ultra slow up- and downloads, but I'll keep things as they are for the time being. There's always an alternative R@pidSh@re link in the text. If anyone notices a 'linky no worky', then please leave a message in the most recent post. And now back to today's rip: Brainstorm's debut album. Brainstorm built its reputation in the mid-seventies in Michigan. The band consisted of Chuck Overton (saxes, vocals), Treaty Womack (vocals), Belita Woods (vocals), Bob Ross (keys), Larry Sims (trumpet), Renell Gonsalves (drums), Eugene Lamont Johnson (bass), David Myles (guitar) and Gerald 'Jerry' Kent (guitar). Almost all of the band members were involved in writing. Before the band released their debut in '77, they did a lot of touring and added trombonist Jeryl Bright, also known from the Cameo line-up. The band got signed to the famous Tabu label of Clarence Avant, and they released "Stormin'", which delivered the singles "Wake Up And Be Somebody" and the absolute slamming floorfiller "Lovin' Is Really My Game". Definitely a disco track with such an incredible energy and funk to it, that it lightens up every dull moment. The record features a lot of fabulous, funky tracks (it's not all disco) and the cuts to pay attention to, are "Easy Thangs", "Wake Up And Be Somebody" (which has some strong influences from Deodato's "Super Strut" in it, by the way), "Stormin'" and the almost entirely instrumental "Hangin' On". Get ready for brilliant horn arrangements, trombone- and flute solos, fat and excellent bass work and an overall sound of absolute joy, enthusiasm, quality, funk and danceability. Save track 2 and 3, the ballads, for later. For the disco people who were there when it all happened, I added a bonus track: the original 12" extended version of "Lovin' Is Really My Game" in its full 7'39" glory! Modern house producers already sampled it. Both the 12" extended and the album are unavailable on CD, but here they kick off the new year, as always at 320 Kbps! Let's see those replies, folks!

Note: for those that don't use R@pidSh@re, there's always a DivSh@re link in the title above every post!