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This little funk/soul gem, with only a 300 copy pressing in 1971, has a few other reasons why its collector value is through the roof (up to $2000): a hot and rough production recorded at Studio Davout; the talents of the excellent American musicians exiled in Paris, the participation of Frank Abel (vocals and organ) and Lafayette Hudson (composition and bass) who would continue together, without saxophonist Bobby Boyd, under the Ice name and later the Lafayette Afro Rock Band. (These two legendary line-ups recorded and released several cult albums in France. I will share these other albums in due time.) The band’s energy and power is already showing on this one – a jarring mix of funk, soul and rock and explosive instrumentation based on rough guitars, harmonious brass, wild organ and tireless drums. The vocals are just as extraordinary and add the final touch to this outstanding record. Turn it up!

Tracklisting:

1. Straight Ahead

2. In A Toy Garden

3. In A Strange Land

4. I’m Undecided

5. Train

6. It’s Good To See Your Face Again

7. Are You Gonna Stay He While

8. Dig Deep In Your Soul

9. Bright Flowers

Recorded at Decca Studios, Paris, France

Produced by Pierre Jaubert

Album review: Betty Davis – ‘Is It Love Or Desire’ (Light In The Attic)

Betty Davis is doomed to remain best-known as the one-time wife of Miles Davis, but she became a musical cult figure through the three funk-rock albums she made in the mid-’70s: groove-heavy, graphically sexual affairs that prefigured the likes of Prince. It was initially assumed that she gave up on making records after that trilogy, but Is It Love Or Desire proves otherwise. It was recorded in 1976, shortly after Davis’s third album, but it took another 33 years for the tracks to finally see the light of day. These sessions find Davis firing on all cylinders, in a mode more or less similar to that of her earlier recordings. Syncopated beats, funk-happy bass lines, scrappy fuzz guitars, and hip-swiveling keyboard riffs provide the hard-grooving backdrop for her larger-than-life vocal personality. Davis attacks the tunes like a savage beast unleashed, but she doesn’t just roar indiscriminately — she directs her fury straight at the target, so her voice comes punching straight from the center of these songs.
LimeWire

Tracklisting:

1. Is This Love Or Desire

2. It’s So Good

3. Whorey Angel

4. Crashin’ From Passion

5. When Romance Says Goodbye

6. Bottom Of The Barrel

7. Stars Starve, You Know

8. Let’s Get Personal

9. Bar Hoppin’

10. For My Man

Recorded at Studio In The Country, Louisiana

Produced by Betty Davis

On October 6th Light In The Attic Records will release the never before heard (and never bootlegged) lost album Is It Love Or Desire, as well as reissue the classic third release Nasty Gal, by unparalleled funkstress Betty Davis.

Betty Davis was a musical maverick with a vision. Imagine substance, sex, and grit combined with a badass band that could deliver the funk bed backbone to the sultry music between the sheets.

Ahead of it’s time in 1975, Davis’ unapologetically uncompromising, self-referential album Nasty Gal showed her digging deeper into her musical and cultural expression that ever before. Riding high with a new record label, a series of high profile relationships, and an intensely sexualized live performance, Davis was poised to take the world by storm. From the title tracks mutant groove to the ballad co-written by one-time husband Miles Davis, Nasty Gal is Hendrix and Sly Stone inspired funk-rock at it’s finest.

Is It Love Or Desire (1976), on the other hand, is a little known gem in the Davis catalog. After cutting Nasty Gal for Island Records, Davis recorded her most personal and expressive record to date at Louisiana’s remote Studio In The Country. Unfortunately a creative difference with the label caused the record to be unexpectedly shelved and was never released to the public… Now, thirty-plus years later, Light In The Attic is proud to announce that Betty Davis’ time has arrived!

Both mastered from the original tapes, Is It Love Or Desire features detailed liner notes by Oliver Wang (Soul Sides), the originally intended risqué artwork housed in a lavishly packaged digipak, rare photos, archival material, and recent interviews with Davis and her skin-tight band Funk House; while the Nasty Gal re-release features new liner notes by John Ballon (Wax Poetics 2007 Davis cover story), original album art, complete lyrics, rare photos, and interviews, all housed in a beautiful foil-stamped digipak.

These releases cement this bold soul sister’s undeniable contributions to music and popular culture. Long live Betty Davis!
TheStranger.com

Betty’s 3rd album saw her still funking and rocking hard! But not wanting to keep using musicians for hire she knew she had to get her own band together. This is that band. And it shows. A more cohesive effort, with Larry Johnson (of the soon-to-be Johnson Brothers) on bass, and Betty at the helm, the songs have more soul than ever before. Track 3 “Dedicated To The Press” is a swipe at her critics, because even though she had a following, she found it hard for her songs and delivery to be accepted by the majority – she scared folks! Track 4 “You And I” was written with ex-husband Miles and reveals their everlasting bond. Track 6 “F.U.N.K.” is a funk-rock-name-dropping-tour-de-force, as only Betty can do. Enjoy some sexy funk!

Tracklisting:

1. Nasty Gal

2. Talkin Trash

3. Dedicated To The Press

4. You And I

5. Feelins

6. F.U.N.K.

7. Gettin Kicked Off, Havin Fun

8. Shut Off The Light

9. This Is It!

10. The Lone Ranger

Recorded at Media Sound, New York

Produced by Betty Davis

Betty’s 2nd album continued the funk-rock fusion of it’s predecessor. The 2nd track was written about Jimi Hendrix. The 1st track actually features Hendrix’s drummer from the Band Of Gypsies, Buddy Miles, on guitar. There is a deeper connection here – Betty Davis was born Betty Mabry in 1944, whilst in New York in the late 60′s she met and fell in love with jazz trumpeter Miles Davis, and they married. It was during this time that Betty introduced Miles to Jimi Hendrix and his music. Inspired, Miles started writing the tracks that would become ‘Bitches Brew’, his 1969 jazz-fusion masterpiece (he was going to call it ‘Witches Brew’ but Betty told him to call it ‘Bitches Brew’). The marriage only lasted a year.

This album contains 2 of the funkiest songs ever recorded by anyone – ‘He Was A Big Freak’ and ‘Your Mama Wants Ya Back’. Raw, uncut funk. Enjoy!

Tracklisting:

1. Shoo-B-Doop And Cop Him

2. He Was A Big Freak

3. Your Mama Wants Ya Back

4. Don’t Call Her No Tramp

5. Git In There

6. They Say I’m Different

7. 70′s Blues

8. Special People

Recorded at Record Plant Studios, California

Produced by Betty Davis

Betty Davis (Betty Mabry) is easily the funkiest chick EVER! From this her debut, through her 2 other albums, she sculpts some of the funkiest music ever committed to vinyl. The additional boot-up-the-arse in the beat is down to the rhythm section – Larry Graham and Gregg Errico from Sly and the Family Stone. Gregg also produced Betty’s albums. Enjoy this raw, uncut funk from one of music’s underrated gems.

The other 2 Betty albums and more info to come…….

Tracklisting:

1. If I’m In Luck I Might Get Picked Up

2. Walkin’ Up The Road

3. Anti Love Song

4. Your Man My Man

5. Ooh Yea

6. Steppin’ In Her I. Miller Shoes

7. Game Is My Middle Name

8. In The Meantime

Recorded at Wally Heider Recording, San Francisco

Produced by Greg Errico

Mandrill’s 2nd album is fantastic and contains 2 of their most well known/loved grooves – “Ape Is High” and “Git It All”. They are certainly starting to solidify their funky-ass sound. A White Jewish guy named Fudgie Kae joined on bass for this album after 1st bassist Bundie Cenac left to sell Porsches.

Tracklisting:

1. Ape Is High

2. Cohelo

3. Git It All

4. Children Of The Sun

5. I Refuse To Smile

6. Universal Rhythms

7. Lord Of The Golden Baboon

8. Central Park

9. Kofijahm

10. Here Today Gone Tomorrow

11. The Sun Must Go Down

Recorded at Electric Lady Studios, New York, New York

Produced by Beau Ray Fleming and Mandrill

Mandrill’s fantastic self-titled debut. Mandrill were blowing people away on the live circuit with their ability to switch from latin to gospel to rock to jazz to funk, sometimes all in one song! This album is essentially the live set they were doing at the time recorded in the studio. Formed by a trio of Panamanian-born, Brooklyn-bred brothers. Ric, Lou and Carlos Wilson and their neighbour Claude “Coffee” Cave with his Carribean roots, Bundie Cenac from the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rican drummer Charlie Padro, and Cuban guitarist Omar Mesa, naturally created a melting pot of styles, which is shown with this album. The 5 part “Peace and Love” is a perfect example. This album also contains a nice slice of funk/rock “Rollin’ On”.

Tracklisting:

1. Mandrill

2. Warning Blues

3. Symphonic Revolution

4. Rollin’ On

5. Peace and Love (Amani Na Mapenzi) – Movement I (Birth)

6. Peace and Love (Amani Na Mapenzi) – Movement II (Now)

7. Peace and Love (Amani Na Mapenzi) – Movement III (Time)

8. Peace and Love (Amani Na Mapenzi) – Movement IV (Encounter)

9. Peace and Love (Amani Na Mapenzi) – Movement V (Beginning)

10. Chutney

Recorded at Electric Lady Studios New York, New York

Produced by Beau Ray Fleming and Mandrill

This is Mandrill’s 3rd full length album and it contains two of their biggest grooves – Hang Loose and Fencewalk. Black/Puerto Rican Neftali Santiago joined on drums after 1st drummer Charlie Padro left to pursue film. The funk congealed and got nuclear. The combination of the percussive instruments and the funk was Mandrill’s trademark by this stage.   Neftali says;  “I remember playing drums, and it used to make me uncomfortable (with) George Clinton and Maurice White sitting right in back of me taking notes! Then all of a sudden Earth, Wind and Fire gets a horn section, and Funkadelic starts adding horns, percussion and become Parliament, and it’s like hmmm that’s interesting.”

TRACKLISTING:

1. Hang Loose

2. Fencewalk

3. Hagalo

4. Don’t Mess With People

5. Polk Street Carnival

6. Golden Stone

7. Out With The Boys

8. Moroccan Nights

Recorded and mixed at Electric Lady Studios, New York
and The Hit Factory, New York.
Produced by Alfred V. Brown and Mandrill

The band reach their creative and commercial peak with this their 4th full length, and their last for Polydor. Containing two of their most killer grooves – Mango Meat and Fat City Strut – this album rolls along. Also contains one of their great underrated tracks – Afrikus Retropectus. The track ‘Two Sisters Of Mystery’ was sampled by Public Enemy for ‘By The Time I Get To Arizona’. The Wilson Brothers, Claude ‘Coffee’ Cave, Neftali Santiago, Fudgie Kae and Omar Mesa could do no wrong at this moment. What a melting pot of funk.

TRACKLISTING:

1. Mango Meat

2. Never Die

3. Love Song

4. Interlude

5. Fat City Strut

6. Two Sisters Of Mystery

7. Afrikus Retrospectus

8. She Ain’t Lookin’ Too Tough

9. Aspiration Flame

Recorded and mixed at Electric Lady Studios, New York
and The Hit Factory, New York.
Produced by Alfred V. Brown and Mandrill