Various – South Dallas Pop Fest 1970

Introduced by the the Soul Seven’s Charles Hunt, who nicely sums up the last, lost thirty years by proclaiming how great – and underrated – South Dallas’s musical community was, the South Dallas Pop Festival 1970 is one of American soul and funk music’s crowning moments. From the Marchel Ivery Quintet’s funky stab at Cal Green’s rare-groove classic “Trippin” with festival promoter Roger Boykin on guitar, to the Soul Seven’s cover of “Kool and The Gang” to the heady psychedelia of the Black Maffia to the show-stopping Apollo Commanders’ rough, rugged James Brown medley of soul diva Marva Whitney’s “I Made A Mistake” and JB’s own, burly “Low Down Popcorn” – the Festival provides a glimpse into the late 60s and early 70s club nights that would have been the stuff of legend had archivists such as Boykin not chosen to document the proceedings. An incredible archival trawl.

Tracklist:

Side A
Marchel Ivery Quintet – Track 1
Marchel Ivery Quintet – Track 2
Soul Seven 1
Soul Seven 2
Soul Seven 3

Side B
Soul Seven with Eddie Purrell 1
Soul Seven with Eddie Purrell 2
Soul Seven with Monica Harris 1
Soul Seven with Monica Harris 2

Side C
Apollo Commanders 1
Apollo Commanders 2
Apollo Commanders 3
Apollo Commanders 4
Apollo Commanders 5
Apollo Commanders 6
Apollo Commanders 7
Apollo Commanders 8

Side D
Apollo Commanders with Eddie Finley 1
Apollo Commanders with Eddie Finley 2
Black Maffia 1
Black Maffia 2
Les Watson & The Panthers
MC’s Farewell

(All tracks appear on CD issue; all tracks appear in same order).

2LP, CD. 2003. NA5007.

Ebony Rhythm Band – Soul Heart Transplant/Drugs Ain’t Cool (12″)

Buy here.

The final – and most exciting – installment in Now Again’ LAMP reissue series – a trawl through the funk catalog of Indianapolis’s most prolific soul and funk label. The Ebony Rhythm Band is a fitting choice for a closer – as only three copies of the original are known to exist. “Soul Heart Transplant” is a take on The Meter’s super-syncopated sound – pushed to the rhythmic hilt by dynamite drummer Matthew Watson. The B Side – “Drug’s Ain’t Cool” – is a burning black rock interpolation of Spencer Davis’s late 60s classic “I’m A Man.” Originally recorded for an Anti-Drug Songwriting Contest, the Band knocks Heroin while slyly giving the nod to their substances of choice. Exclusive to this 12” is the instrumental of “Drugs Ain’t Cool.”

Tracklist:

Side A:
1.Soul Heart Transplant

Side B:
1.Drugs Ain’t Cool (Vocal)
2.Drugs Ain’t Cool (Instrumental)

12″ Single. 2003. NA2006.