Search - Various Artists :: Bay Area Funk

Funky Driver on a Funky Bus

Andre M. | Mt. Pleasant, SC United States | 09/27/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you like Blaxpliotation era soundtracks and seventies funk that's the illegitimate stepbrothers of James Brown and Charles Wright's Watts 103rd Street Band, then this is for you. The flipside of silky Philly Soul, this is raw, funky, ghetto music that will remind you of inner-city Black America circa 1972 even if you've never left Iowa or were born far too late to catch it the first time around. Some tunes in particular are very crudely recorded even by the standards of the time, but this adds to the charm. Rappers and Dj's in particular will love this, as it is filled with Bomb beats to pump up the volume that they deservedly crave. Oh yeah, "Funky Driver on a Funky Bus" is as much fun as it's title indicates. Just don't cuss the driver like the character in the song. Enjoy."

Tightest funk out there

Alastair McLean | Wellington, New Zealand | 01/11/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In the huge pile of CDs featuring early funk out there this is easily one of the best. It features artists from the Bay area of San Francisco recorded at the same time as psychedelia was flourishing in the inner city (late 60's/early 70's). Some of the tracks show that influence and are all the fresher for it. For me this stuff is much more accessible 30 odd years later than the acid rock of the same period. It's ironic that the funk of San Francisco was focused on short, tight tracks while the rock drifted into meaningless jams. Later in the 70's both would be making the move into excessive, more is less territory, but at the time these tracks were waxed it was obvious that the rhythm was treated as a short injection rather than a prolonged treatment. Having said that, the stand out track is actually the longest on the CD (What is it? by the Appollis), but every track is a winner. There is also a complilation of Texas funk out there which is a monster as well. Get em."

A must have and very rare

Alastair McLean | 06/08/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In a time when you had some serious hard working and struggling bands with raw pure funk and soul it dont get better than this
classic stuff here , and to be a part of it as i watch my father contribute to it as a sax player with the new breed and the natrual four this is some classic funk at its best !!!"