Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Spreadin' Honey -- Watts 103rd St. Rhythm Band
2. Soul Finger -- Bar-Kays
3. The Shadow Of Your Smile -- Brother Jack McDuff
4. Gangster Of Love (Parts 1 and 2) -- Jimmy Norman
5. The Memphis Train -- Rufus Thomas
6. Get Out Of My Life Woman -- Grassella Oliphant
7. Live Right Now -- Eddie Harris
8. Pig Snoots, Part 1 -- Natural Bridge Bunch
9. Soul Sound System -- The Freedom Sounds featuring Wayne Henderson
10. Snatching It Back -- Clarence Carter
11. Stoned Soul -- Artie Christopher
12. Getting The Corners -- The T.S.U. Tornadoes
13. Sexy Coffee Pot -- Tony Alvon & The Belairs
14. Don't Come Around Here Anymore -- Mark Putney
15. Keep On Dancing -- The Commodores
16. Right On Brother--Part 1 -- The Southshore Commission
17. Pop, Popcorn Children -- Eldridge Holmes
18. It's Your Thing -- Cold Grits
19. It's All In Your Mind -- Soul Angels
20. Funky John -- Johnny Cameron & The Camerons
21. Help Me Make Up My Mind -- Joyce Jones
22. Rock Me Baby -- Lou Johnson
23. Sing A Simple Song -- The Noble Knights
24. Do You Dig It -- Titus Turner
25. Funky Canyon -- Phil Moore Jr.
26. Jan Jan -- The Fabulous Counts
27. Tampin -- The Rhine Oaks

Disc 2:

1. Gossip -- Cyril Neville
2. Somebody In The World For You -- The Mighty Hannibal
3. Stanga -- Little Sister
4. Jumpin' Jack Flash -- Ananda Shankar
5. The Deacon -- Brute Force
6. Sookie Sookie -- Don Covay & The Jefferson Lemon Blues Band
7. Right On -- Clarence Wheeler & The Enforcers
8. (Don't Worry) If There's A Hell Below We're All Going To Go -- Curtis Mayfield
9. Stepping Stones -- Johnny Harris
10. I'm Just Like You -- 6ix
11. Funky Thing--Part 1 -- The Unemployed
12. Messie Bessie -- Shirley Scott
13. Fairchild -- Willie West
14. Cold Bear -- The Gaturs
15. I Can't Get Next To You -- Mongo Santamaria
16. Feelin' Alright -- Lulu
17. Soul Bowl -- Memphis Horns
18. Tuane -- Hammer
19. Take It Off--Part 2 -- Johnny Tolbert & De Thangs
20. Seeds Of Life -- Harlem River Drive featuring Eddie Palmieri & Jimmy Norman
21. Engine Number 9 -- Wilson Pickett

Disc 3:

1. Hard Times -- Baby Huey & The Baby Sitters
2. What So Never The Dance--Pt. 1 & 2 -- Houseguests
3. Headless Heroes -- Eugene McDaniels
4. Spinning Wheel -- Wade Marcus
5. Bad Tune -- Earth, Wind & Fire
6. Mr. Cool -- Rasputin's Stash
7. Don't Cha Hear Me Callin' To Ya -- Junior Mance
8. Hang On In There -- The Stovall Sisters
9. Funky Nassau (Part 2) -- The Beginning Of The End
10. Whatever's Fair -- Mark Holder & The Positives
11. Face It -- Ed Robinson
12. Wah Wah Man -- Young-Holt Unlimited
13. Rock Steady (alternate mix) -- Aretha Franklin
14. Won't Nobody Listen -- Black Haze Express
15. Goin' Down -- Allen Toussaint
16. Suavecito -- Malo
17. You Gotta Know Whatcha Doin' -- Charles Wright
18. Mo Jo Hanna -- Tami Lynn
19. Ridin' Thumb -- King Curtis
20. Almendra -- Macondo
21. Nuki Suki -- Little Richard

Disc 4:

1. Getting Uptown (To Get Down) -- United 8
2. 8 Days On The Road -- Howard Tate
3. Moon Shadow -- Labelle
4. Let It Crawl -- Society's Bag
5. Wanaoh -- Black Heat
6. If It Was Good Enough For Daddy -- Clarence Reid
7. Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky -- Claudia Lennear
8. Cosmic Sea -- The Mystic Moods
9. Kissing My Love -- Cold Blood
10. Flute Thing -- Seatrain
11. Chug Chug Chug-A-Lug (Push N' Shove) Part 2 -- The Meters
12. Funky To The Bone -- Freddi/Henchi & The Soul Setters
13. Try It Again -- Bobby Byrd
14. . Teasin' -- Cornell Dupree
15. (Everybody Wanna Get Rich) Rite Away -- Dr. John
16. Chicken Heads -- Oscar Brown Jr.
17. Rien Ne Va Plus -- Funk Factory
18. Cajun Moon -- Herbie Mann
19. Improve -- Darrow Fletcher
20. Riding High -- Faze-O
21. Four Play -- Fred Wesley & The Horny Horns
22. California Dreamin' -- Eddie Hazel

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12964 in Music
• Released on: 2006-10-03
• Number of discs: 4
• Formats: Box set, Original recording remastered

Album Description
91 tracks deep and five hours long, this multi-artist, 4CD set mines rare, renowned, legendary, and little-known grooves from the vaults of Atlantic, Atco, and Warner Bros Records!

Amazon.com
Too many reissue compilations are content to merely slice 'n' dice familiar catalog choices in not particularly original ways. But this four-disc, 91-track trove of obscure '70s R&B and funk from Warner-distributed labels great and small argues there's still treasure to be gleaned from studio vaults--a five-hour groove-fest that's as interested in shaking booty as in opening ears. Even the genre's groundbreaking usual suspects (Wilson Pickett, the Bar-Kays, Curtis Mayfield, Earth, Wind & Fire, et al) are represented by selections that aren't immediately familiar, while Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin serves up a radically different, previously unreleased take of "Rock Steady." Still other stars contribute their sonic touches to some of the lesser-known cuts, as witnessed by the patent trippiness of Sly Stone alter-egos 6ix and Stanga on "I'm Just Like You" and "Little Sister," respectively; the stark, party-not-so-hearty contrast of the Mayfield-written-and-produced "Hard Times" by Baby Huey & Baby Sisters; and the Meters' version of "Tampin'," released under the moniker of the Rhine Oaks.

Sequenced in rough chronological order, it's a savvy window into a musical evolution as well, with the rhythmic guitars, organ swells, and horn flourishes of traditional '60s R&B giving way to sinewy synths and increasingly chunky bass lines as the decade grooves on. While savvy hip-hoppers will note that many of the rarities here have already been repurposed by shrewd mixers, it's a revelation to hear them in their original form. A compelling deconstruction of an often clichéd and too-narrowly-defined genre, this is an anthology that showcases music that has influenced such contemporary artists as Tupac, the Beastie Boys, Snoop Dogg, and Kanye West, annotated by many of the original musicians who set the dance floor in motion. --Jerry McCulley

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Customer Reviews

WHAT IT IS ?.....NOTHING BUT A NON STOP PARTY!
This set right here could very well be the holy grail of rare and hard to find grooves. This box set is funkier than a high school locker room! Every track on here is certified stank(aka funky). The most amazing thing about these tracks is that they capture the spirit of the times better than a lot of their more popular comtemporaries(at least in my opinion). "What it is" feels like an audio documentary of underdogs making the funkiest music and having a great time doing it. If you listen to how these tracks are sequenced, you'll feel like a story is being told - rather than just listening to another compliamation of vintage r&b music.

I'm only 25 years old. Every time I play this set, I feel like I'm at a 70's block party, chillin' in a long black cadillac fleetwood and scoping out some foxy mamas with hot pants and thigh high leather boots
(that's how good the music sounds). With 20 plus tracks each per disc, you can't help but be amazed with the consistent quality of the music.

All I gotta say is buy this set and let the funk be your guide to love, happiness, and your rites of passage to throw it on down and dance your
a-- off!!! If you ain't diggin on this, you're diggin a hole for yourself!

Long live the funk baby!

good stuff, but could be better
So, I was pretty excited about this box set, but I must admit, I'm a little disappointed, mainly with some horrible edits. I guess you run this risk with most box sets, but some of the edits just broke my heart. The worst of them all was the chop job they did with Curtis' "Don't Worry...". I don't really consider this song a "rare groove," considering it's the lead song on his greatest hits cd, which is very easy to find. The edit of Eddie Hazel's "California Dreamin'" was pretty bad too; "Games, Dames and Guitar Thangs" has been rereleased, pick it up. Please. Also, "Funky Nassau, pt. 2"? Why? It's not even 2 minutes long, and pales in comparison to Part 1. Not a good representation of Beginning of the End's work.

All right, enough of my griping. I just love long, drawn-out jams, and absolutely loathe edits. But this box set does have some really awesome stuff going for it. Faze-O's "Riding High" is superb, as is "Stepping Stones" by Johnny Harris. "Cosmic Sea" by the Mystic Moods is really great too. I'll admit that I've never heard of 90% of this stuff, and most of it is reall good. I just have to skip over those edits...

But in my own opinion, if you want more bang for your buck, go with the Superfly Soul series. You can get all 3 2-cd sets for less than you'll pay for this 4-cd set, and I think the music choice is superior. And they actually have some rare, unedited Curtis, like "Billy Jack" and "Big Mac."

Now THIS is what I'm talkin' about!!!
I counted - I had heard 5 of these songs previously. A couple, "Keep On Dancing" and "Sookie, Sookie" I'd heard as covers by garage bands. Many of the performers catalog I thought I knew. WRONG! This collection bubbles and percolates and keeps on keepin' on for the duration. If you love funky soul music, or music period, this is a very worthy collection. I fully intend on having the Curtis Mayfield song about seeing you in Hell played at my funeral. I know all my friends will be joining me there. Great job, Rhino, super songs. They're out there somewhere but they were nearly all missed by me.