List 7 - Funk, Soul, Northern

Jason S · July 5, 2014

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Check the clips...some reallly good stuff here. Johnnie Mae Matthews is a personal favourite, as is the funk of the Educators Band and Charlie Clemons for the "The Devil has Made This Land His Playground" side not forgetting the awesome Edward Hamilton for the northern camp.

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Fox & The Roadrunners - Illusions Of Party/Dancin' (Giffer) EX £40 Hear

Obscure crowd scene dancer.

Jay Mitchell - Nitty Gritty Song/Unhappy People (Penn's) M- £30 Hear

Nighty and gritty and another on Frank Penn's own imprint.

T.S.U Tornadoes - Only Inside/Nothing Can Stop Me (Ovide) M- £20 Hear

Texan geniuses with another strong two-sides.

Educators Band - Everybody Doing Their Thing Part 1/Everybody Doing Their Thing Part 2 (Dy.Rich) EX £125 Hear

One of my favourite funk records ever: the way those drums and the bass kick against each other, the sprinkling keys, the soaring sax. Got it all!

Charles Pryor - What They Doing (Funkie Junkie)/I Just Want To (Change My Mind) (Double 07) M- £20 Hear

Despite the scare stories this is pretty much the same as the Acquarian issue…still the perfect kind of record to get that bar gig going. Charles sneaks a version of the Tyrone Davis classic onto the flip hoping no-one would notice…

Richard Brown - Sweet And Kind/Don't Listen To The Grapevine (Steeltown) M- £35 Hear

Fantastic record and maybe a little overlooked but this oozes soul!

John Roberts - I'll Forget You/Be My Baby (Duke) VG++/VG+ £75 Hear

Uptempo class from Texas…take a listen.

Charlie Clemons - Can I Use Your Body/The Devil has Made This Land His Playground (Mighty Power) EX £175 Hear Hear

Gospel disco anyone? 'The Devil…' rolls along faultlessly while the flip does something similar. Obscure as anything. Was subjected to a Tom Noble remix a while back but this is the hard 7"

Lamar Thomas - Feel So Good Inside/(Take Me To) New York City (MCA) EX £100 Hear

Big label that sounds like an indie rarity. It's in fact a big label rarity - tough to find a a class modern dancer. Set to go bigger!

Edward Hamilton - Call Me/I'm Gonna Love You (Carrie) M- £275 Hear Hear

Beautiful copy of the faultless northern soul smasher. Just so. Damned. Good!

C.O.Ds - I'm A Good Guy/Pretty Baby (Kellmac) M- £10 Hear

Probably get overlooked but a stunning record in my book: too cheap to be good, right?

Toni Mathis - Everything You feel Is Me/Bring The Boogie Woogie Back (Nectar) M- £20 Hear

Written by Chicago native Bill Quateman (who released four albums of adult contemporary rock for CBS and RCA between 1972 and 1979), this downtempo psychedelic soul track has it all: beats, drama, horns, hammond, a gospel chorus, and amazing jazz-inflected vocals from Toni Mathis. This appears to be Mathis' sole release. As borrowed off the net.

Magnificents - Do The Whole Rock/Do The Whole Rock (Ken Tone) VG+/VG £30 Hear

Nashville funk sound of the 1970's on the tiny Ken Tone logo.

Johnnie Mae Matthews - Got - To Be (On The Case)/You're The One (Art) M- £175 Hear

What a record! Blimey, it's got the lot from the songwriting seer that was Johnnie Mae Matthews: lilting flute, sassy female empowerment lyrics and a brush with the deep with a beat scene as well as having a funk vibe. So good!

Flame and The Sons of Darkness - Solid Funk/Something (P & P) EX £20 Hear

Dirty, gritty muddy funk from this hard working crew out of New York. The local girl doing the singing on the Beatles cover on the flip was tryig her best too.