Trunk of F.U.N.K. Mix

Written by Greg

Hello. My name is Greg (a.k.a. DJ GA), and I'm a funk/soul/jazz record collector located in Madison, WI, USA. For those not familiar with what I do (aside from the collecting/hording of records previously mentioned), I run the blog Trunk of F.U.N.K.), which is dedicated to uncovering the story behind funk and soul musicians and records that didn't really get their due in their time. Ava had mentioned to me that, although Jemsite was initially focused on guitars, rock music and the music industry, there's been a pretty significant interest recently in branching out to other styles of music. Based on this change of pace, she invited me on board with the thought that my insights would make me a particularly good fit to discuss the collaboration of funk and rock.

While I wouldn't consider myself the foremost expert (or even within the echelon of "most knowledgeable"), I felt I could definitely contribute something interesting, and hopefully, that my input would get a much larger ball of discussion rolling. So, with the idea of the collaboration between funk and rock fresh in my mind, I started searching through stacks of records looking for around a dozen or so songs that were either influenced by funky sounds (e.g. Train), funky covers of rock and roll tunes (e.g. Black Dog), or rock and roll covers of funk numbers (e.g. Let A Woman Be A Woman). The results of my search are available below in the 15th podcast*** I've put together for my blog this year…

Get It Together-Trunk of F.U.N.K. volume 15

Tracklist

Title – Artist – LP Title (if applicable) - Label

Prelude – The Millenium – Begin – Columbia
Black Dog – Deodato – First Cuckoo – MCA
Train – The Buddy Miles Express – Expressway to Your Skull – Mercury
As I Lay Dying – Melting Pot – Ampex
(I Know) I'm Losing You – Rare Earth – Rare Earth
Funk-In-Wagnall – Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds – Dunhill/ABC
Go On Home – Gee Gee Shin – La Louisianne
Taurus – Dennis Coffey – Goin' For Myself – Sussex
Let A Woman Be A Woman – Roy Head – Same People – Dunhill/ABC
Get It Together – The Grass Roots – Dunhill/ABC
Season of The Witch – Al Kooper, Steven Stills, Mike Bloomfield - Super Session – CBS

And now for a little bit of information on the artists and songs featured in this mix…

The Millenium was the band formed by Carl Boettcher after having put in a number of very successful years as a producer working with acts like The Association, and a "collaborator" with artists like Gary Usher and Brian Wilson. As far as I'm aware, Begin is the only official album every released by the Millenium, although a number of studio excerpts have emerged on recent reissues. The track chosen for this mix, Prelude, is significantly different than the rest of the songs on the album, encompassing a fairly strong psych influence and some really heavy, totally funky drums. In fact, the drums alone are what have always drawn me to this song, and are the primary reason that Prelude was included in this mix. *The Millenium LP Begin has recently been reissued, so if you like what you hear pick up a copy. The rest of the album is much more in the vain of groups like The Association than the selection that was presented here.

On a message board and blog dedicated to guitars and rock and roll, there's little need to introduce the song, Black Dog. Despite its widespread familiarity, I figured the regulars here might be interested in hearing a really solid cover version from a Brazilian jazz keyboardist. Particularly interesting in this version are Eumir Deodato's interpretation of the guitar line on the keys and the use of sparse hand drumming to really isolate the waning parts of the song.

Up next is Buddy Miles, a rock drummer with an impressive career, having worked with the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Mike Bloomfield (who's featured later in the mix). I actually covered this song in detail in one of my earliest posts over at Trunk of F.U.N.K., so if you're looking for more information I'd suggest heading over there.

There's actually very little information out there on the band Melting Pot. What I do know is that they release an LP, Fire burn, cauldron bubble on the Ampex label in the early 70's. This album includes a number of really funky tracks, including an instrumental version of Kool & the Gang's Kool and the Gang, that's kicked up quite a bit from the original. **The LP Fire burn, cauldron bubble has been reissued in recent years, so if you like what you hear, pick up a relatively cheap copy of the LP.

Rare Earth formed in the early 60's under the name of the Sunliners. They changed their name to Rare Earth in the late 60's, were signed to Motown in 1969, and shared a name with the Motown imprint, Rare Earth, that was initiated in the late 60's as a label for white rock acts. Luckily for them, the association with Motown afforded them the ability to work with Norman Whitfield, who definitely pushed the envelope of what was funk/soul with his strong interest in psychedelic sounds. The results of their work with Whitfield resulted in a number of huge singles, including covers of the Temptations Get Ready and (I Know) I'm Losing You, which is included in this mix.

Funk-in-wagnall is the flipside to the 45 version of Don't Pull Your Love released by the trio of Dan Hamilton, Joe Frank Carollo, and Tommy Reynolds in 1971. The single Don't Pull Your Love was a huge success for the trio, reaching number 4 on the US charts. The trio (who retained the same name despite Reynolds being replaced by Alan Dennison in 1972) saw significant success a few years later with the #1 single Fallin' In Love.

Gee Gee Shinn is a singer with a bona fide monster blue-eyed soul voice. A quick listen to this selection will leave you without a question as to how he's been in the business since the mid-50's playing in a variety of bands, including The Flat Tops, The Boogie Kings, and The Rollercoasters. I chose today's selection based on it's similarity to the great funky Tom Jones singles on Parrot (see Looking Out My Window for a great example), the powerful throbbing bass line, and the snapping funky drums. The really great part about this record is that the flipside, Come On Over, is a darn good soul number to boot. *This 45 is a bit more rare than most of the other selections in this mix, however, it can be picked up for around $30.00.

Dennis Coffey probably needs little introduction here. For those not in the know, he is a guitarist out of Detroit, MI, who's been in the business since the mid-50's. He's worked as a studio musician, was a member of Motown's house band, The Funk Brothers, has scored film soundtracks, and had a top ten hit (the instrumental single Scorpio, which is equally as funky as the selection provided here).

Up next we've got another great blue-eyed soul singer, who seems to be as well known for his voice as his stage presence. For those who've heard the album Same People, it's exceedingly obvious that Head was familiar with the funky sounds of the time. In fact, it was somewhat difficult to decide which track to include in this mix. What made it easy in the end is the fact that Let a Woman Be A Woman is a cover version of a song originally recorded by a Phoenix-area funk band, Dyke & The Blazers. The track is credited to the lead singer of the group, Arlester Christian, who, unfortunately for the Blazers, was gunned down on a Phoenix street early in 1971. The history of Dyke & The Blazers also provides an interesting anecdote on the popularization of the term "funky" that's worth mentioning here. Until the time of their single "Funky Broadway", radio stations were hesitant to play singles with funky in the title due to the sexual connotations of the term. Due to a stroke of good timing, the single began receiving airplay, and the group has forever been associated with the popularization of the term.

The Grass Roots are another example of an American rock band that's had a really long career, releasing albums from the mid-60's through the 2000's, so there doesn't seem to be any real need for an introduction here. The song Get It Together has some pretty straightforward rock moments, but the real winner here is the heavy funk-influenced backbeat, provided by the group's drummer Joel Larson. The selection included in the mix was actually the theme song to the American Bandstand-esque TV show, Get It Together, which was broadcast in 1970 (this is from well before my time, so I've never actually seen the show).

The mix closes out with a really great, stripped down funky cover of Donovan's Season of the Witch from Hammond organist Al Kooper and guitarist Steven Stills. One may be wondering why Bloomfield is credited on the album, but not on the song. The story seems to be that Kooper and Bloomfield had gotten together and recorded the first 5 tracks in a single 9-hour session, at the end of the session, Bloomfield left and refused to resume working, and so Kooper picked up the phone and asked Stills to finish out the work on the guitar over the rest of the session. The result is a sort of mixed bag of songs with two very distinct guitar sounds (both tone-wise and in terms of playing). This song is maybe a bit long, but is a really great example of how some groovy Hammond work and a snapping backbeat can give a rock standard a really funky feel. This song has been covered in funky and non-funky versions a good number of times, and although this is my personal favorite, some of the others are definitely worth checking out.

I hope you dig the selections I've provided, and thanks again to Ava for giving me the opportunity. If you like what you hear, be sure to stop by and check out the other offerings available over at Trunk of F.U.N.K.

***Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only. If you like what you hear, pick up the records as most of these selections have been re-issued or are readily available at your neighborhood record store.