SMOOTH DELIVERY - CONTRIBUTIONS (2009)

This, my dear visitors, is POST NUMBER 100!! We have reached a milestone here!! A hundred posts with over a hundred out of print, forgotten, lost or simply unaffordable vinyl albums and, occasionally, CDs. A hundred posts that have harvested countless lovely replies and of course contributions that have all been ripped and posted with love by some of you. One of the major contributors to this blog, of course, is Smooth from My Jazz World.

Since his contributions to my blog are always outstanding, I decided to fill this post with his latest delivery of, in total, seven fabulously fantastic albums. By now the majority of the visitors here will know about our way of working together: I post out of print funk, soul, jazz, R&B and disco from my own collection and Smooth focuses on jazz, fusion and related styles. Since Smooth's goal is to digitize his entire vinyl collection, he of course encounters the funkier side of things too. And that's when he contacts me!

So no long article this time, no, let's immediately dive into these seven steaming hot diamonds, courtesy of Smooth. Everything of course pristinely ripped at 320Kbps! Let's see those replies, folks!! Here we go...!

GIL SCOTT HERON - 1980 (1980)

Gil Scott Heron

ARETHA FRANKLIN - SWEET PASSION (1977)

Aretha Franklin

MEMPHIS HORNS - GET UP & DANCE (1977)

Memphis Horns


SIDE EFFECT - PORTRAITS (1981)

Side Effect

SHOTGUN - SHOTGUN (1977)

Shotgun

SHOTGUN - IV (1980)

Shotgun

CHOCOLATE MILK - BLUE JEANS (1981)

Chocolate Milk

Yes folks: seven long lost but fantastic albums! Thanks again to Smooth for his wonderful contributions again. Enjoy and don't forget to reply!

QUAZAR - QUAZAR (1978)

Sometimes one post leads to the other in unexpected ways, as is the case with today's special. A visitor by the name of Tim enjoyed the Mutiny post from last week and, understandably, he immediately thought of this superb Quazar release, which has been out of print for a long, long time now. At almost the same time, another visitor of this blog was so kind to -anonymously- hook me up through email with a superb rip of the Quazar album, which was a relief, 'cause the cassette copy I have is too crappy to rip and post. So I announced this post right after Tim's initial comment in the Mutiny post. Anyway, back to the lecture at hand. Quazar by Quazar was released in 1978 on Arista and has only been re-released once in Japan on P-Vine in 1991. Considering the pristine quality of the rip, it must have been taken from the Japanese pressing. As we all know by now, Jerome Brailey formed Mutiny because of his disagreements with George Clinton, but Glen Goins formed Quazar for the exact same reason. And just as with Mutiny, the P-Funk is present all over this Quazar release. Glen Goins sadly died during the recording sessions of the Quazar album. He was only 24 years old. Eventually, Glen's brother Kevin Goins stepped in to finish this fabulous and fantastic album. Some minor online research will provide you with a crop load of interesting facts behind this release, so I suggest y'all do just that. In the meantime you want to play this superb P-Funkin' gem loud. Make sure to listen it through from A to Z and enjoy it to the max. Let's not forget the brilliant line-up of heavy weight musicians: Bass: Don Payne, Eugene "Moochie" Jackson, Glen Goins, congas: Darryl Deliberto, drums: Glen Goins, Jeff Adams, Jerome Brailey, guitar: Butch Watson, Glen Goins, Harry Watson, Harvey Banks, Kevin Goins, keyboards: "Deacon" Samuel Johnson, Greg Fitz, Richard "Shaidi" Banks, lead vocals: Eugene "Moochie" Jackson, Kevin Goins, Lady Peachena, saxophone, Clarinet and Flute: Darryl Dixon, trumpet: Monica Peters. Definitely a must for Funk DJs, and P-Funk aficionados. So even though the rip is not mine, I have to admit that the one who emailed it to me did a great job, of course at 320Kbps! Let's see those replies folks!

VARIOUS ARTISTS - SAVE THE CHILDREN (1973)

And after my own post of the Mutiny album it's time again for another soulful contribution from buddy Smooth. The "Save The Children" double live album contains great live recordings from fabulous names like Marvin Gaye, the Staple Singers, the Temptations, the Chi Lites, the Main Ingredient, the O'Jays, Isaac Hayes, Zulema, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the Cannonball Adderly Quintet, the Push Mass Choir, Albertina Walker, Loretta Oliver, the Rev. James Cleveland, Bill Withers, Curtis Mayfield, Sammy Davis Jr., Roberta Flack, Quincy Jones, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Jerry Butler, Brenda Lee Eager, the Ramsey Lewis Trio, Nancy Wilson, the Jackson Five, Jackie Verdell and Dick Gregory. Everything based of course on the documentary "Save The Children" which chronicles all the above artists that appeared during Jesse Jackon's Operation PUSH exposition held in 1972 in Chicago. Since I don't know too much about the "Save The Children" documentary, I can't give you any more information about it to be honest, but the most important thing of course, as always, is the music. The one thing I thought was interesting though, is that bits and pieces of Rev. Jesse Jackson's speeches on this gem are also to be found on the WattStax albums from the same period. Anyway, just play this one on a nice and lazy Sunday afternoon and enjoy those unique live performances by the absolute cream of the crop from the early seventies! Smooth delivered a pristine rip at 320Kbps, so let's see those replies, folks!

MUTINY - A NIGHT OUT WITH THE BOYS (1983)

Back again, folks! This time with another incredibly hard to find Mutiny album. I already posted Mutiny On The Mamaship on March 19th 2007 and since the rip featured here today is the only other Mutiny album I have, I decided to share it with y'all. I guess that the majority of the P-Funk aficionados here know of the fact that Jerome "Bigfoot" Brailey is of course best known for being part of Parliament/Funkadelic in the seventies; the band he eventually left because of his disputes with George Clinton. "A Night Out With The Boys", I have to admit it, is not as strong as I thought it would be when I bought it from a Prince collector for cheap years ago. The whole album has a, let's say, cluttered sound and sometimes you get the impression that the record was not properly mastered before it was released. My copy is in excellent condition and still it sounds worn out. I don't know how to explain it. Still it's P-Funk all over the place, which once again proves that Jerome Brailey might have left the band, but never the Parliament/Funkadelic sound. The best track of the entire album, in my opinion, is "Peanut Butter & Jam (Funky Thang)". Other cuts to pay attention to are "In The Pocket" (with an obvious bassline quote to an older Parliament/Funkadelic track, so train spot that one), "A Night Out With The Boys" and "Raise". Bass: Jerome Brailey and Rodney Curtis, drums: Jerome Brailey, guitar: Dave Roeder, Lenny Holmes, Michael Hampton, Ricky Hitchcock, Skitch Lovett, keyboards: Kenni Hairston, Maceo Bond and vocals: Jerome Brailey, Kenni Hairston, Lenny Holmes and Skitch Lovett. Produced by Jerome Brailey himself. As far as I know this Mutiny release is very rare, or at least very hard to get by and I hope that it will lighten up the day of P-Funk fans. Done at 320Kbps and I worked my ass off to make it sound as good as possible, but remember: even though my vinyl is in excellent condition, the pressing in itself is just kind of 'muffled'. Still I think I made the rip sound better than the actual vinyl after I finally compared the two! So enjoy this night out! And let's see those replies, folks!