Wagram Music has issued a compilation of 25 funk tracks from the
catalogue of Miami's Henry Stone. Stone was a leading light in the Miami
sound of the 70s and founder of several labels such as Alston, Dade, Cat,
Drive, Glades, Dash etc. under the banner of T.K. Records named after
sound engineer Terry Kane who built a recording studio in the attic
of Stone's office. His biggest successes came from the likes of
George & Gwen McCrae, K.C. & The Sunshine Band and Betty
Wright.
T.K. went bankrupt in 1980 and was acquired by Roulette Records. Stone died
of natural causes in 2014 aged 93.
The compilation is mainly for the funk fans but does include a few
northern/modern soul spins such as Milton Wright "Keep It Up", the fabulous Willie 'Beaver' Hale (Little Beaver) "Groove On", Betty Wright "Gimme Back My Man", Snoopy Dean "Shake n' Bump" and an underground jazz/funk club classic Uncle Louie "Full Tilt Boogie" (which I remember from back in the day) who were a group created by Walter Murphy of "California Strut" / "A Fifth of Beethoven" fame. It also includes a big early pop crossover funk hit by Beginning of The End "Funky Nassau".
A new one on me that I quite like is The Funky Bunch "Miami Funk" which doesn't appear to have been released other than on this and another compilation in 2005. A surprise inclusion is Wilson Pickett "Let Me Know" which is from his 1976 album "Chocolate Mountain" until you discover that Wicked Records was a joint venture between Stone
and Pickett.
Another surprise is James Brown "Smokin' And Drinkin'" which is from a solitary T.K. album "Soul Syndrome" in 1980 along with Vicki Anderson's answer song to Jean Knight with "I'm Too Tough For Mr. Big Stuff (Hot Pants)" which was released on Brownstone a joint venture between Brown and Stone.
The label was used as a vehicle to release singles by individual members of
James Brown's band when King Records decided they would release only James
Brown material. Predominantly Bobby Byrd and Vicki Anderson releases which
consisted on nine of the original twelve singles released between 1971-77
with another three which were shelved and released post the Brown/Stone
deal.
It's good value at £7.99 (i.e. 32p per track) however, buying individual tracks are 99p each!
The Spotify playlist isn't showing artists so click on cover image for full
track listing.
| Rating: | 8 |
| Explicit: | N |
| Genre/Style: | Funk |
| Format: | Album / Compilation |
| Media: | Digital |
| Label: | Wagram Music |
| Cat No: | None |
| Date: | 07/10/2022 |
| Price: | £7.99 |
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