THEE epitome of rare groove
- Thread starter skel
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To BATMON's point. Something like "Expansions" is common fare out here. Heard on the radio any classics mix show, I fucking heard it at the farmers market last weekend (granted, in Harlem).
My choice was based on the record being goddamn rare as shit, never hearing it on any radio or popular mix of tunes, and it having a certain British-ness about it in the appeal.
My choice was based on the record being goddamn rare as shit, never hearing it on any radio or popular mix of tunes, and it having a certain British-ness about it in the appeal.
Yeah, for me if a record is to be the Epitome of rare groove, ie the essence, then it should live up to "rare". But a record doesn't have to be rare to be classic rare groove. It's about the vibe which is found on a lot of private stuff from the seventies, stuff that was non commercial as fuck like Micheal Orr's Spreading Love. That same flowing jazz/soul/funk sound can be heard on lot's of commercial stuff from the same period, like Charles Earland's Leavin this planet. Keyboardists seem to have had that shit on lock (Reuben Wilson has so many good jams).
double post... On that note brief encounter has always been a fav of mine. How it drops is straigtht :face_melt:
So good! What is the story behind this anyway other than this comp pretty much un"google"able
this seems to be a 2007 uk comp, by design made to look rare funk from the 70's, cover versions, esperanto night of the wolf is actually a cover of the ita track tema del lupo which was rereleased as al foster band in the us, so this comp is not to be labeled raregroove after all, actually more like nu-funk, to use yet another love-able music term haha, heres the orig..
But I think if somebody asked me to recommend one band to help him understand what rare groove sounds like, I would say "Pleasure". Couldn't even decide what album to go to.
Acid Jazz's most redeeming feature for me was the unearthing of older tracks like Joyous, Fantasy by Johnny Hammond and You're a Star from Aquarian Dream. That scene didn't do Terry Callier's career any harm either.
In the US the music was REdescovered but in mid 80s Britain where the term "rare groove" was coined, the music was DEscovered for the first time. Mid-80s, pre-internet Britain was a veritable dust-bowl for funk and groove. Expansions or pre '77 Ayers had never seen a UK release or any significant radio play beyond pirate. Beyond the Average White Band "Common groove" didn't really exist - all groove was by definition "rare". These LPs were highly prized objects brought over by pioneering DJs in battered covers w' scratchy vinly. I remember crazy scenes of collectors queueing up in front of Soul Jazz in Camden or Honest Jons in Ladbroke Grove, just because word had got around that a shipment was coming in from the US. I saw people jumping on LPs by Jean Carne or Dexter Wansel. 10 years later when I saw this shit sealed on ebay for 10 $ I couldn't believe my eyes.
This.
Also, around '88 the 'revival' of this music was boosted by hip hop - Polydor started the Urban imprint and re-released the mighty James Brown and associates songs (Funky Drummer, Lyn Collins - Think etc) on 12"s and comps (Urban Classics I and II). These were sought after for many years, and rightly so - they were remastered, LOUD and featured extended edits and unreleased tracks.
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