April 5, 2024

Camaro in the canyons

Camaro in the canyons is a new set of mixes for AOR Disco. Close your eyes, and imagine you are in a 1968 Chevrolet Camaro taking a wild trip through the canyons. Turn up that 8-Track and with the music blasting and your cares in the wind journey through a selection of Canyon Rock, Fireside Funk, Shoreside Synth & Hot Tub Soul that soundtracks another breezy day.

Bon Voyage

Tracklist

# Artist name Track name
1 Brian Willia Summertime
2 Stylus We All Need One Another
3 Graeme Gash Freeflight
4 Bob Mahaney Sweet On You
5 Sango Bon Voyage
6 Robert Maciag You Make Me Feel So Good
7 Robert John Am I Ever Gonna Hold You Again
8 Silver Morning Middle Ground
9 Denis Farley Pony Express
10 Barbara Bailey Hutchison You Give Me Life
11 Karen Goldberg Shoot The Moon
12 Randall Bramblett That Other Mile
13 Daniel Bechet Woodcutters’ Lullaby
14 Arthur Adams Stay With Me Tonight
15 Welcome Make Me Fly Away
16 George Shaw 6295 Sw Fisher
17 Bugs Beddow Lake Superior
18 Q Never Felt This Way Before
19 Mia Martini Stai Con Me
20 Monty Bishop Stop This Haulin’ Water
21 Peter Brown Without Love
22 Craig T. Cooper Project I’ll Help You Get There
23 Chris Latul New Morning
24 Steve Shelto Don’t You Give Your Love Away (Short Version – U.S. Intro)
25 Robert Starling Fantasyland
26 Dino & Sembello Feels So Good
27 Rick Mosca I Wanna Believe In You
28 Charmer It’s Never Too Late
29 Busker Mexico
30 Bennett Higgins & Crisis Change
31 City Lites Now You’ve Gone Away
32 Kip Hanrahan Make Love 2

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Searching For The Love

Tracklist

# Artist name Track name
1 Hotspur Wings Of A Dove
2 Gregg Wright & Light Years Searching For The Love
3 Prime Time Fall In Love In Outer Space
4 Guy Maxwell Watch Out Sally
5 Hirth Martinez Altogether Alone
6 Stylus Musical Man
7 David Wingo New Morning
8 Passport Loco-Motive
9 Rhead Brothers Black Shaheen
10 Faith We’re All Headed The Same Way
11 Coste Apetrea Angels
12 Mike Pinera Alone With You
13 Henson Don’t Wait Too Long
14 David Diggs Gentle Thoughts
15 Jeff Todd Car-Tune
16 Gabor Kristof Slow Age
17 Hiroshima Another Place
18 Wilton Felder Ride On
19 Torsten Wallin Vintermänniskan
20 Frank Stallone Take You Back
21 Crystal Grass Featuring Steve Leach Dream On
22 Brick Seaside Vibes
23 Maxine Nightingale I’m Givin’ It All To You
24 Watchpocket Back Porch Of My Mind
25 Phil Keaggy Follow Me Up
26 Michael Chapman Lescudjack
27 Silver Morning Halfway To Somewhere
28 Forest Crazy Days
29 Fruitcake My Feet Won’t Move
30 The Michael Rowe Band The Way Of The Girl
31 Experience Unlimited Peace Gone Away
32 Mikki Look Before You Leap
33 Pheeroan Aklaff “Intuit”
34 Sunbear I Heard The Voice Of Music Say

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Riding High

Tracklist

# Artist name Track name
1 Seals & Crofts High On A Mountain
2 Gregg Wright Highway Traveler
3 Moonrider Danger In The Night
4 Frank Pyne Love In Space
5 Gary Epps Forever
6 John Klemmer Touch
7 Glen Tizzard Can We Get Back To It
8 Bobby Caldwell Sunny Hills
9 Faze-O Riding High
10 Together Band Calif. Curl, Calif. Girl
11 Andy Nelson Bionic Eyes
12 Brian Auger Happiness Is Just Around The Bend (Early Monitor Mix)
13 Monika Linges Quartett Running
14 Marlon Hunter Cut Up Mr. Kool
15 Twennynine With Lenny White & Kleeer Fancy Dancer
16 Haze Waiting For The Moment
17 Seawind Make Up Your Mind
18 Paris Holley Lady Of The Night
19 Cash Money Seeking
20 Cloud Rico Rico
21 Steve Leach With The Crystal Grass Orchestra I Meditate Each Day
22 Siren Take It If You Try
23 Stroke Just Let Me Luv You
24 Maru & Mikael Hold Your Banners High
25 René & Angela I Love You More
26 Celine Lomez Joking
27 The Longo Brothers Featuring Jill Vogel In The Middle Of The Night
28 Cotton Club Den Blinda Kärleken (My Everchanging Moods)
29 Gary Boyle Out Of Mind
30 Morrison Kincannon Sonshine

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Original photos taken by Tyler Clemmensen – free to use under the Unsplash License

Photo manipulation done my myself

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February 21, 2024

A Soulful Chill

a soulful chill

You have probably worked out that I’m not that into heavy dance music. I loved Acid House but not what House music became. And any how, these days I suffer from anxiety and anything with a heavy BPM sets off a panic attack. So I’m all about setting the right vibe and chilling out. Going through my vinyl collection I started putting together a collection of soul tracks which I’m calling a soulful chill.

There are 10 of them so far, most of the tracklists are listed below but the others can be found by subscribing to my Mixcloud stream for a small fee, your reward will be the tracklists for over 500 mixes !!! For as little as £2.99 a month, it’s like saying thank you by buying me a coffee x

Go straight to the A Soulful Chill Mixcloud playlist by clicking here

House Of The Rising Sun | A Soulful Chill

Tracklist

# ARTIST NAME TRACK NAME
1 Jéan-Claude T. The Resume
2 Cyndee Peters House Of The Rising Sun
3 Eden Ahbez And John Harris Overcomers Of The World
4 The Rascals Little Dove
5 Wendel Stuart If
6 Al Johnson Peaceful
7 John Lehman Rosy
8 The People’s Workshop Let’s Get High
9 Light Of The World I’m So Happy
10 Stylus I Just Don’t Wanna Fall In Love Right Now
11 Craig T. Cooper Project I’ll Help You Get There
12 Essence Girl Without A Dream
13 Toast It’s Just An Illusion (Coming To Ya) (Instrumental)
14 Stroke Just Let Me Luv You [PITCH -3]
15 Vic Asher What Am I Gonna Do
16 Overholt, Tate and Phillips Baby Come Back
17 Holly Maxwell Never Love Again
18 Cleo Sol Gold
19 Leah Weller Dive In

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Ole Sweet Music | A Soulful Chill

Tracklist

# Artist name Track name
1 Cyndee Peters Wayfaring Stranger
2 Billy Bailey Holy Crown
3 Don Crawford Fire Island Saturday
4 Holly Maxwell Winter Go Away
5 Esther Phillips That’s All Right With Me
6 Shira Small Here I Stand
7 Kelly Finnigan Catch Me I’m Falling
8 Experience Unlimited People
9 The Bees I Love You (Instrumental)
10 Toast It’s Just An Illusion (Coming To Ya)
11 Romeo Ooh Baby Baby
12 Darrel Pelton Moments Like This
13 Craig T. Cooper Project Love Dues
14 Magnetic Force Ole Sweet Music (Instrumental)
15 Kenya Collins And Mac Simmons I Don’t Want To Be Right
16 Keisa Brown & Underground Euphoria Let’s Go Back (To Our Little World)
17 Jeff And Penny Give Me A Piece Of Your Mind
18 Elijah Sterling The Girl I Fell In Love With

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Solid Ground | A Soulful Chill

Tracklist

# Artist name Track name
1 Wee Aeroplane (Reprise)
2 Jéan-Claude T. Nude And Next To Nature Theme
3 J. Blackfoot featuring Ann Hines Tear Jerker
4 Joshie Jo Armstead & Alfonzo Ratliff By A Twist Of Fate In The Right Place
5 Electra Fyd Revue Emptiness
6 Sade Maureen
7 Yussef Dayes feat. Jamilah Barry Woman’s Touch
8 Eddie Chacon Sundown
9 Michael Kiwanuka Solid Ground
10 Terry Callier Sunset Boulevard
11 Kevin Moore Rainmaker
12 Satisfaction Gregory Shan’t
13 Brenda Russell In The Thick Of It
14 Smokey Robinson Quiet Storm
15 Brook Benton Glow Love
16 Garrett Scott Now That I Love You
17 Kellee Patterson Maiden Voyage
18 Daniel Bechet Saturday Night Flavour

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From A Whisper To A Scream | A Soulful Chill

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When I Prayed Last Night | A Soulful Chill

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I Can Dig It Baby | A Soulful Chill

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Hello Sunshine | A Soulful Chill

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Everything Must Change | A Soulful Chill

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Let’s Take A Look At Our Children | A Soulful Chill

  1. Lady by Tim Stevens & the Leonard Johnson Project
  2. Jersey by Tony Brown
  3. Summertime by Cleveland Francis
  4. Lefty by Charles Lamont
  5. These Are The Questions by Reggie Alexander
  6. Thats How It Is by Little Beaver
  7. Bet You Can’t Love Me One Time by Bill Spoon
  8. Back Up (Against Your Persuasion) by Black & Ward
  9. It Was September by Superior Elevation
  10. It’s Only A Dream (Love Mix) by York
  11. Early Ev’ry Midnite by Roberta Flack
  12. Let’s Take A Look At Our Children by Joe West And Sling Shot
  13. Turn To Me by Jerry Fuller
  14. Personal Movie by Bob Ray
  15. Ocean Of Tears by Trevor Beales
  16. Earth And Water Song by Humble Pie
  17. Water Lily by Don Moore
  18. Words Of Love by Leon Ware

Excuse Me (For The Strange Things I Do) | A Soulful Chill

  1. Sweetest Love by Moses
  2. Turn The Page (Instrumental) by Betty Lou Landreth
  3. Signs Of Winters Time (Instrumental) by Crystal Winds
  4. Emmie by Green Lyte Sunday
  5. Delta Man (Where I’m Comin’ From) by Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson
  6. Excuse Me (For The Strange Things I Do) by Moon Williams
  7. Purple Haze by Dion
  8. Be Thankful For What You Got, Part 1 by William DeVaughn
  9. Nevermore by Jerry Townes
  10. If I Could Have My Way by Pierre Ruffino
  11. See See Rider by Lou Gossett
  12. Look Over Your Shoulder by Reginald Haynes
  13. Nature Boy by Richard Barbary
  14. That’s Love by Sugar Hill
  15. Fix It by Lady Blackbird
  16. Professional by Gabriels
  17. My Dream by 79.5
  18. La La by The Stepkids
  19. Mystery Of Man (Rapson Re-Edit) by Sarah Vaughan

As Time Goes On | A Soulful Chill

  1. LaTime Flies by Benida Madison
  2. Empty Room by Evolution
  3. I Want To Be Ready by Billy Bailey
  4. Crying by Scott Fagan
  5. Love Song by Duffy Power
  6. Brother Orchid by Bobby Lee Fears
  7. Oh Dear, What Can The Matter Be by Terry Callier
  8. The Willow Tree (Demo) by Cleveland Francis
  9. Lullabye by Tony Brown
  10. Let Love Shine by Love, Unity And Virtue Featuring Howard Johnson
  11. Rainy Night In Georgia by Freddie North
  12. We Almost Lost Detroit by Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson
  13. Bend Your Head Low by Geoffrey Stoner
  14. As Time Goes On by Body & Soul
  15. Love Is A Thing by Icarus
  16. Hurt So Bad by Sandra Alexandra
  17. Collage by Lady Blackbird
  18. The World Loves A Fool by Jeb Loy Nichols With Cold Diamond & Mink
  19. Ron And Eddie Blues by Rod Abernethy

The Far Side Of The Hill | A Soulful Chill

  1. River Man by Andy Bey
  2. Lady Lisa by George Parks
  3. This Is My Confusion by Black & Ward
  4. You Can’t Blame Me by Johnson, Hawkins, Tatum & Durr
  5. Going Out Of My Head by Gail Wynters
  6. Didn’t I by Darondo
  7. Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You) by Quincy Jones
  8. Spin, Spin, Spin by Terry Callier
  9. The Far Side Of The Hill by Harry Belafonte
  10. Till I Saw You by Tony Brown
  11. A Test Of Love by Timothy
  12. Just Say the Word by Jerry Townes
  13. Movin’ Day by Brook Benton
  14. Oona’o by Reginald Haynes
  15. Sometimes by Trevor Dandy
  16. Poor Man’s Dream by Fernery Fair
  17. The Touch Of You by Brenda & The Tabulations
  18. Hard To Get A Thing Called Love by Tony Bruno

So The Saying Goes | A Soulful Chill

  1. Sweetest Love by Moses
  2. Hold On To Me by Colleen Lovett
  3. Jennifer by Tony Brown Band
  4. Song To You In The Morning by Broken Bow
  5. Wandering by Greenwood, Curlee & Clyde
  6. Ain’t No Sunshine by Jerry Farber Quartet Featuring Stephanie Pettis
  7. As I Walk by Poor Richard
  8. Friends by Gene Hood
  9. Kristina’s Lullaby by Parker MacDonell
  10. Moments To Want You by Jerry Lillard Band
  11. That’s The Way This World Has Got To Be (II) by Chris Lucey
  12. Silly Rhymes by Rusty Wier
  13. October by Joe Ferry
  14. Silly Song by The Two Things In One
  15. Just A Little Lovin’ by Sandra Alexandra
  16. For You by Barbara & Ernie
  17. Time Flies by The Benida Madison Group
  18. I Thank Heaven by Bugsy Maugh
  19. Cold and Wintery Soul by Capers And Carson
  20. So The Saying Goes by Face Of The Earth

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August 24, 2023

Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours Volume Two | RE:WARM

‘Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours Volume Two’ compiled by Paul Hillery, to be released 6th October on RE:WARM Records.

Available to purchase at this link

“One of the year’s finest compilations…Paul Hillery, has delivered a labour of love that leaps from the turntable and provokes a potentially expensive Discogs browse” CLASH

“An endlessly rewarding compendium of outsiders.” Uncut

“This is a universe of sound you’ll be glad you washed up in.” Shindig!

“The seventeen tracks take the listener from the bucolic hedgerows of Albion to the winding dusty valleys of California and plenty from the spaces in between. They span the lost halcyon days of Laurel Canyon and beyond with all the light and dark of that high time. Then at the same time each piece joins the folk dots to the more rustic vibrations emanating from closer to rural England. The music is resistant, evocative of times of contemporary and historical change, often charged with revolutionary fervour, but also tinged with an organic connection to the land..” Test Pressing
(full review here)

RE:WARM Records is delighted to announce ‘Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours Volume Two’ compiled by Paul Hillery, renowned record collector, archivist and dj. The record is set for release on the 6th October, available on double gatefold black vinyl, cd and digital (order here).

Paul Hillery is a relentless seeker of musical treasures that span generation and genre, uncovering some brilliantly psychedelic and ever so funky gems along the way. These nuggets were initially documented on the Folk Funk and Trippy Troubadours blog, then released on ‘Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours Volume One‘ in 2021. Volume One received praise from all the right places, including BBC 6 Music’s Lauren Laverne making it her compilation of the week, Gilles Peterson giving the record plenty of airtime and rave reviews in Uncut, Shindig! and CLASH.

For ‘Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours Volume Two‘, Paul dives back into the vaults for more seriously good, rare cuts for all to enjoy. Spanning seventeen tracks, the new compilation represents his continued journey with the Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours sound. Think of heady sounds to soundtrack balmy English summers and Balearic poolside drops, the compilation includes a huge slab of privately pressed obscurities with some previously unreleased material. Standout tracks include the folk funk masterpiece ‘Morning Brings The Light’ by Grand Union, pressed to vinyl for the first time here. The previously unreleased groove of ‘Undone by Tasha Lee McCluney co-written with Joey Stec of Curt Boettcher’s California supergroup The Millennium. Another vinyl debut ‘Teardrops Lost In The Rain (Stallions Remix)’ by Findlay Brown, where the original folky Midnight Cowboy soundtrack vibe is elevated by a hypnotic space disco twist, all while still keeping the melodic root of the original version. Another outstanding cut is flute-driven jazz masterpiece ‘Weepin’ by Cascada featuring Jaime Roos, Ronald Langestraat and Ben van Bergen on percussion. And the anthemic ‘Let Me Ride’ by Australian singer/songwriter Peter Campbell will leave you yearning for more.

‘Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours Volume Two’compiled by Paul Hillery and released by RE:WARM is available to purchase at this link

Grand Union ~ Morning Brings The Light

Grand Union came from Brentford, UK, where the Grand Union Canal meets the Thames. They were active from 2003 to 2017. Musically they were influenced by 1960s ‘folk baroque’ artists such as Pentangle and Davy Graham, as well as modal jazz musicians such as Pharoah Saunders and Alice Coltrane.

The seed of ‘Morning Brings The Light’ came from a bass line from Caspar Sewell. The overall groove took shape one afternoon with a 4/4 guitar played over a 6/8 bass line, a combination that suited the drummer Gerry Wood. Kate Vahl on vocals, Simon O’Grady on flute, guitar and backing vocals, with Leigh Rose on violin and guitar. The original lyrics listed the lost rivers of London but were changed to rebirth and liberation from a busy modern life as the new dawning brings the light.

The track was recorded at Twickenham Sound Studios in 2005 with Tom Addis and Adrian Bradley at the mixing desk. Its energy came from being recorded live, with Vahl’s vocals and the harmonies being overdubbed. Originally featuring on the album Through The Green Fuse released on People Tree Records, it is the first time this Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadour favourite has been pressed to vinyl.

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Tasha Lee McCluney ~ Undone

‘Undone’ was written by Tasha Lee McCluney and Joey Stec, from The Dependables and Curt Boettcher’s California supergroup The Millennium. McCluney had sung backing vocals for Beth Orton on the critically acclaimed album Trailer Park and also with Heavenly band The Rockingbirds. She supported Primal Scream at Brixton Academy and worked at Heavenly recordings. She DJed frequently as ‘The Heavenly Birds’ and with Tim Tooher who put together the infamous early 1990s ‘Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham’ gig in Camden. McCluney also released the single ‘Stomped On And Wasted’ as Tasha Lee in 1998.

In 2001 Alan McGee (Creation, Poptones) flew McCluney over to LA to meet Joey Stec, the pair hit it off and started writing together. An album of 10 tracks were recorded six months later in a three-week studio session recorded at The Lodge, in Northampton (incidentally the home town of Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours). It features McCluney on vocals with Todd Wills on guitar and Bill Denton on bass. It was produced by Joey Stec and Joe Foster and held together by Ed Ball.

The album, Pictures And Postcards, was planned to be released on McGee’s Poptones label but was unfortunately shelved, luckily the recordings were sold back to McCluney for a pound and ‘Undone’ features here in its first official outing.

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Len Udow ~ Beauty Raise The Tree

Appellation Music, to find a home for his genre-bending music. With the help of many musical friends, the album, Through Curved Glass, was created and released in 1976. The songs were written on both piano and guitar and collected in the early 1970s. ‘Beauty Raise the Tree’ was initially a poem written by Len’s roommate Stephen Gislason during a tumultuous time of relationships gone awry. With hindsight, the song may have been an attempt to heal what was perceived to be broken. It was devised from D-modal tuning on an old Martin D18 to give the guitar a spatial sound. There was a conscious attempt to capture a sense of spontaneity off the studio floor by recording live, with no overdubs, at Captain Audio Studios, Toronto, Canada, between March 30 and May 11, 1976.

‘Beauty Raise the Tree’ features Len Udow on acoustic guitar and vocals, Patrick Godfrey on piano, Jack McFadden on double bass, Harvey Saltzman on bassoon, with Jim Morgan as engineer, and Eugene Martynec on acoustic guitar, and also made the whole project and its disparate parts come together.

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Dan Donahue ~ Wild Canada

The song ‘Wild Canada’ was written in 1976 and recorded in a little studio in the basement of a music shop known as Guitarland, a mecca for the independent folk and rock scene of Winnipeg, Canada. Dan Donahue was very much a part of the vibrant Canadian Folk music community.

Donahue played all the instruments on ‘Wild Canada’ while Randy Joyce added percussion in the form of a distant woodpecker (somewhere deep in the northern forest). The track is taken from Donahue’s first album, Long Distance Runner, and was privately pressed on Dan’s own Freckles Music imprint in 1978. He followed with a second self-released album, Motion, in 1980, working with Canadian producer, engineer and music artist Daniel Lanois.

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Michael Glick  ~ The Ballad Of Ho Chi Minh

This song was recorded towards the end of 1976 at Grog Kill Studio, Willow, New York. The studio was located near Woodstock and the engineer was Mike Mantler (a great jazz musician and husband at the time to Carla Bley).

‘The Ballad Of Ho Chi Minh’ was inspired by Glick’s involvement in the Vietnam antiwar movement. After reading about his life, Glick wrote the song as a tribute to Ho Chi Minh and the Vietnamese people. It features a flute solo from Ricardo Strobert, Tony Mondesire and Carlos Gomez on assorted percussion, Kenyatte Abdur-Rahman on marimba, drums and bells, and Mike Mantler on bass. Most of the musicians were fellow students of Glick at the College at Old Westbury, Long Island. Some went on to play with pretty well-known musicians. The album, City Dreams, was privately pressed in 1977 on Glick’s own New Morning Records label and dedicated to the memory and ideals of Paul Robeson.

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Chris Rawlings ~ Song of Creation

In 1968, Paul Lauzon and Chris Rawlings quit their respective bands. They had an idea to put The Rime of the Ancient Mariner to music and so to complete their task they spontaneously drove to New Orleans to visit Lauzon’s sister. However, she had joined the Externalized Ashrama of Kumi Maitreya and her spiritual followers and the two friends had to find somewhere else to stay. A jazz drummer, Tony ‘Oulaboula’ Bazley, directed them to a club, Andy’s on Bourbon, where they found shelter. Lauzon was loaned a copy of ‘The Book of the Hopi’ by his sister and he wrote a translation of the original lyric. Rawlings fashioned chords on the acoustic guitar and they developed the melody together.

‘The Song of Creation’ was recorded at Montreal’s Studio Six. With Chris Rawlings on vocal and guitar, Tony Bazley (KARMA!) on drums, Jim Hochanadel on the recorder, Gilles Losier on bass; Wayne Rose on slide dulcimer. It featured on the album, Pearl River Turnaround, privately pressed on Rawlings’ own label Cooking Fat Music in 1975.

Chris Rawlings is a Quebec-born singer-songwriter and folk musician.

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Gary Lapow ~ Bamboo In The Wind

Lapow first began performing as part of the Washington Square folk music scene of the early 1960s. His first recording was on Folkways Records at the tender age of 16. During the Civil Rights era, Lapow toured with the SNCC Freedom Singers and recorded with the Red Star Singers in the 1970s.

Recorded in San Francisco ‘Bamboo In The Wind’ was written as a comforting gift to his father after the death of Gary’s mother. The song features Steve Erquiaga on acoustic and electric guitar, Rich Girard on bass, and Gary Lapow on vocals. It appears on Lapow’s debut album, Tell It From The Heart, which was released on his own Springhill Records label in 1982.

Based in the San Francisco Bay Area Gary Lapow has been writing and performing for more than 50 years.

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Summer Rain ~ Turn On Your Lovelight

Summer Rain formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, UK in 1973. The five musicians were from the local area and had known each other since the early 1960s. Carol White on lead vocals, Alan White on lead guitar and vocals, John Parslow on bass, keys and backing vocals, Tony Procter on rhythm guitar, bass and backing vocals, with Pete Mayhew on percussion.

‘Turn on your Lovelight’ was recorded at Acorn Studios Stonesfield, Oxfordshire, UK in the Summer of 1975. It was one of the tracks from the band’s first studio album, First Summer Rain, which was privately pressed and released the same year. The album featured three original tracks written by Alan White, ‘Turn On Your Lovelight’ was written for Alan’s wife Jennie.

Jennie Rylatt ~ Rainfall

‘Rainfall’ was recorded at Great American Music Machine (GRAMM), a studio in Denver, Colorado, situated across the street from a strip club. Jennie Rylatt made the 2-hour round trip at night from college to record. She had previously performed on several commercials recorded at the studio and got a deal to record during the studio’s slow time.

The song was written by a fellow student, Jo Kadlecek (now a famous author) is about the love and forgiveness of Jesus. Rylatt asked if she could record the song and her friend excitedly said yes. They were just kids. It was 1979 but for Rylatt the memory is as fresh as if it happened yesterday. She sat in the dimly lit studio alone with her guitar and got the song down in one take!

It features on Rylatt’s ten-track privately pressed debut album, A Dream And A Little Magic.

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Lucy Kitchen ~ Olivia

Lucy Kitchen is a singer-songwriter from Hampshire, UK. ‘Olivia’ was recorded in August 2021 in the middle of a heatwave in a single day with Luke Oldfield engineering using vintage mics and the beautiful live space at Tilehouse Studios, the unique vintage recording studio originally built for Mike Oldfield in 1981. Lead vocal and electric guitar were recorded as a live performance with backing vocals overdubbed.

The song was written like a letter to a friend whose relationship was falling apart but one they did not want to leave. With analogue warmth and haunting vocal tone, it is released here on Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours Volume Two for the first time.

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Henry Parker ~ Prospect Of Wealth

Henry Parker is a British folk musician from Keighley, West Yorkshire. His song ‘Prospect Of Wealth’ is taken from his very hard-to-find eco-conscious debut album, Silent Spring, which was privately pressed in a run of just 239 copies and released in 2019.

‘Prospect Of Wealth’ was written in early 2017 and recorded in a basement studio at the house of producer David Crickmore. The name is borrowed from one of Parker’s key musical influences, Steve Tilston, who had a track titled ‘Prospect Of Love’ on his 1971 debut album, An Acoustic Confusion. The song is written from the point of view of wealth or money, addressing those who seek more than they need. The song features Theo Travis of Soft Machine / Porcupine Tree on flute, they met when Parker supported Soft Machine at The Trades Club in Hebden Bridge. With Henry Parker on vocals and acoustic guitar, Augustin Bousfield on double bass, Brendan Bache on percussion, and David Crickmore on Fender Rhodes. It was produced and engineered by David Crickmore and mastered by Neil Ferguson.

A devoted guitarist since childhood, Parker’s musical path led him to rock and heavy metal until at the age of 20 he found himself captivated by the ethereal beauty of Bert Jansch and Nick Drake. Soon finger-picking and open tunings became the essence of his sound. As a result of drawing deep from the well of the sixties and seventies revival, Parker creates a new sound for modern folk with a clear link between the past and the present. Parker spent the past 5 years playing headline concerts and supporting many of his musical heroes, including Michael Chapman, Wizz Jones and Bridget St John.

Henry Parker’s 2nd album, Lammas Fair, was released at the end of 2021 to much praise across the music press.

Findlay Brown ~ Teardrops Lost In The Rain(Stallions Remix)

Findlay Brown is a singer-songwriter and producer born in 1976 in York, England. His debut album, Separated By the Sea, was released in 2007 on Peacefrog Records and was produced by former Simian member Simon Lord. MOJO said the album “Set’s the benchmark for gorgeous troubadour folk”. His second solo album, Love Will Find You, was released in 2010 on Verve Forecast and produced by ex-Suede guitarist Bernard Butler. ‘Teardrops Lost In The Rain’ originally appeared on this second solo album. Brown wanted to write a song that could fit on the Midnight Cowboy soundtrack (no coincidence that this is one of Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours’ favourite films).

Brown was a fan of Andrew ‘Lovefingers’ Hogge, a DJ/producer and the man behind ESP Institute. So when Brown’s manager told him there was a chance of Lovefingers remixing one of his songs, he was eager for it to happen. Andrew Hogge, working with Lee Douglas under the name ‘The Stallions’ was given ‘Teardrops Lost In The Rain’ to work their magic on. They ran with the soundtrack vibe taking it to another level adding their hypnotic space disco twist while still keeping the song’s melodic root.

‘Teardrops Lost In The Rain (Stallions Remix)’ made an appearance online, but inclusion here is the first official release and its debut on vinyl.

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Harris & Crane Band ~ Change Is Me, Change Is You

The Harris and Crane Band was formed in early 1975 by Randy Harris and Dave Crane and consisted of Randy Harris on piano, Dave Crane on rhythm guitar, Al Simonsen on lead guitar, Woody Reppert on bass and Dennis Liszcz on drums. The band enjoyed regional success around Philadelphia, PA, USA.

‘Change is Me, Change is You’ was written about a young man reviewing his life and deciding that change was needed. It was recorded in 1976 at A & R Recording Studios, New York, NY. The studio of legendary producer Phil Ramone, who founded A & R Recording Inc. in 1958 with Jack Arnold. The single was released on the regional label FFO Records.

It was to be their only release, The Harris and Crane Band disbanded in early 1977 due to creative differences. music.

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Frank Pyne and Loon Saloon ~ Waco

Frank Pyne was born in Portlaoise, County Laois, Ireland. After leaving there in 1979 he moved to the U.S.A. and then Holland. Arriving in Heidelberg in 1981 on his way to somewhere he never left.

He began writing songs at the tender age of 12. Along with a school friend, they would compose instrumental pieces played on two acoustic guitars in church between meditative breaks in Mass, making the most of the atmospheric acoustics.

Pyne released his solo album, Sombrero Fallout, on the German label Casino Records in 1988. It was recorded at the Galgenberg Studios, Schwabbach, Germany.

In the late 1980s, the picturesque German town of Heidelberg was home to a burgeoning live music scene centred around a handful of live venues. One was ‘Gringos’, a Tex-Mex restaurant and music venue owned by Pyne. It was a favourite hangout for American soldiers, many of whom were musicians. It also played home to a host of exceptional local and international talent from all genres of music. Musicians would meet up, share songs and form bands. One formed was Loon Saloon, a momentary collaboration with Pyne and his nephews.

Loon Saloon went on to release two CDs on Pyne’s own label, The Campfire. Cosmic Campfire was released in 1996, and Field Trip, with a version of ‘Waco’ included, was released a year later in 1997.

Although not religious, Pyne was intrigued by cults whose charismatic leaders were followed unquestioningly. He wrote ‘Waco’ after watching the disastrous intervention by government forces who laid siege at a Branch Davidian compound in the Texas town. The song is written from the point of view of the cult leader David Koresh. It uses few words, repetition, and some menacing riffs. The version recorded with Loon Saloon features an unusual combination of instruments and includes a chilling middle section contributed by David Moufang (Move-D). It features Frank Pyne on guitar and vocals, Alan Pyne on keyboards and vocals, Morgan Pyne on pedal steel guitar, Geoff Brown on bass, Kiaus Pelzer on percussion, with David Moufang FX on chorus. It was recorded in 1995 by Rio Mario in the children’s bedroom of the Pyne family apartment situated above Gringos.

In 2005 Frank Pyne released a 50-track retrospective of songs titled, The Song Is King. He continues to write and perform music.

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The B.B. Jackson Band ~ Theme IV “A Detective”

The B.B. Jackson Band were active in the 1970s and early 1980s in the Tri-State Area of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. They performed a unique mixture of satirical and improvisational blues, rock and jazz, setting themselves apart from the mainstream acts that dominated that period. The band consisted of Mike Burke on keyboard and organ, Jack Jeckot on guitar and synth, Christine Jeckot on percussion, Tom Boris on drums, with Frank Barbera on bass.

BBJ recorded one album, Midnight Writer, released on a short-run private pressing on their own Moon Pub label. Theme IV “A Detective” was recorded in January of 1978 in a small loft studio. Written by Jack Jeckot, it was one of the band’s many instrumentals and started life as an impromptu jam in the studio late one night after a long day of recording. The song title came from an audience member who noted the track sounded like the music from a 1960s detective show.

Cascada ~ Weepin’

One of the few ballads from the Latin band Cascada, ‘Weepin’ was recorded in the Spring of 1980 during an overnight session at Big Jo’s Studio in the North of Amsterdam with production by Alonso Cárdenas and Glenn Heyer. Cascada was a percussive band made up of musicians from various nations, from Uruguay to Morocco, the Antilles and The Netherlands. This track saw Ben van Bergen on conga, bongo, percussion, and vocals, Jaime Roos on bass, vocals, bombo, and Legüero, M. ‘Ayko’ Ahkrif on bongo, conga, and percussion, Alvaro Pasquet on guitar, Jose P. Carrasco on flute, vocals, percussion, and charango, Ronald Langestraat on keyboards, vocals, and soprano saxophone.

The track is taken from the band’s self-titled debut album released as a private pressing on their own Chambacú label. Unfortunately, it was to be their only release, the band disbanded after the departure of two of its members. It was a shame, Cascada was just reaching some prominence on the festival circuit and looked to be headed for success.

A few band members continued within the industry. Jaime Roos still continues his acclaim in the Latin music industry. Ronald Langestraat enjoys a lengthy career as a musician, releasing albums on the Amsterdam-based South of North label including; Searching ‎(2018), Apollo ‎(2019), and Light Years Away ‎(2022).

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Peter Campbell ~ Let Me Ride

Australian singer/songwriter Peter Campbell has been in the music business for over 50 years. His track ‘Let Me Ride’ came about in 1974 at the end of a fraught three months hurtling through Europe with a couple of guitars and the thrilling, if unsettling, sensation of being completely untethered for the first time. He wrote the song on his last night alone in Paris.

Recorded in Brisbane, Australia later that same year the track features Campbell on 12-string guitar, Gary Crees on electric guitar, Des Du Ploy on drums, Roger Hanlon on bass, with Peter, Gary, Lawrie Huxley and Doug Campbell providing harmonies. It was released on Campbell’s debut album, Of Time And Its Distance, in 1975 on the Australian label Trinity.

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Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours

Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours

Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadour Volume One

Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours – Volume One was released on RE:WARM records September 2022.

“An endlessly rewarding compendium of outsiders” 8/10
Terry Staunton / Uncut Magazine

“This is a universe of sound you’ll be glad you washed up in” 4 Stars
Hugh Dellar / Shindig! Magazine

Also crowned compilation of the week on Lauren Lavernes BBC 6 Music show. Tracks from the compilation have also featured on Gilles Peterson BBC 6 Music show.

Featured at No.5 in the Piccadilly Records END OF YEAR REVIEW 2022 / TOP 20 COMPILATIONS chart

Also features in  Mr Bongo’s Best Of The Year 2022 chart

We Are The Children Of The Sun

BBE670CLP - We Are The Children Of The Sun

Another of my compilations ‘We Are The Children Of The Sun’ was released April 2022 on BBE records. A lovingly handpicked musical excursion that takes in strummed soft rock, blissful beach beats, the soft fizz of electronica, all carried to your ears by a gentle summer breeze. It ranges from hazy, long-forgotten early 70s tapes, right through to digital compositions recorded during lockdown in 2020. Tune in and ruminate while consciousness is awoken with transmissions dropping out from the fringes of psyche tranquillity, holding hands with folk-funk that runs deep and hazy, as the bejewelled turquoise waters lap gently at the ocean’s shore

“One of the most emotionally uplifting and hazily beautiful compilations of recent years.” 8/10
Andrew Male MOJO Magazine

“INCREDIBLE! Every single song. It was sublime.”
Colleen Murphy Balearic Breakfast / Classic Album Sundays

“An exquisite selection of obscure private press folk funk and AOR lovingly hand picked and compiled by one of the most knowledgeable collectors in the field.”
Kev Beadle Mind Fluid / Focal Points

“Paul really is a trailblazer when it comes to this genre. With his never-ending and stupefying mixes over the years, I think it’s safe to say he’s the go-to guy for all things folk-funk. This compilation is a culmination of years of seriously deep digging and is something to be proud of. Congrats on a perfect selection. 10/10”
Danny McLewin Psychemagik

Featured at No.15 in the Piccadilly Records END OF YEAR REVIEW 2022 / TOP 20 COMPILATIONS chart.

https://orcd.co/childrenofthesun

Once Again We Are The Children Of the Sun

Once Again We Are The Children Of The Sun MOCKUP

‘Once Again We Are The Children Of The Sun’ was released n BBE records. in April 2023

https://orcd.co/onceagainchildren

Read more about the album here

Paul Hillery

For Cassady Bean and Cosmo Kesey, I love you with all my heart

Paul Hillery has had quite a golden run of critically acclaimed compilation releases over the past couple of years, including ‘We Are The Children Of The Sun’ and ‘Once Again We Are The Children Of The Sun’. The former was hailed by MOJO as “one of the most emotionally uplifting and hazily beautiful compilations of recent years”. Paul also curated the full album re-issue projects of Will and James Ragar, Forest and Monica Rypma all for the much-beloved label BBE.

In addition to his crate digging and credible curatorial reputation, Paul is also renowned for providing information for sleeve notes and magazine articles. He has built long-standing relationships with overlooked and underrated musicians of the 60s, 70s and 80s, which deftly inspires his mission to give these troubadours the exposure they deserve. Paul has carried his record boxes to many a venue and festival playing alongside The Polyphonic Spree, Arthur Lee and Love, Bonnie Dobson, Spiritualized, 4 Hero, Happy Mondays, Simian, The Bees, Julian Cope, Courtney Pine and many, many more. He has also graced the turntables at Jazz Café, Spiritland, Refuge, Shepherds Bush Empire, Astoria, KoKo, Village Underground, Electric Ballroom, Forum, Festival No.6, Lunar Festival, Edinburgh Festival, Psychemagik’s Magik Forest and countless others. All the while continuing to supply guest mixes and commissions for the likes of Apple Music and radio stations here and far. There will also be another release in Paul’s other series, ‘We Are The Children Of The Setting Sun’, to look out for.

This compilation is the second in a planned series of releases that the curators hope you will come to treasure. Lovingly handpicked and released with the full support of all featured artists. Lost gems found on privately pressed obscurities, forgotten studio tapes, and hidden deep in digital folders waiting to be heard again. So tune in, turn on, drop the stylus and join RE:WARM and Paul Hillery on a ride through the vast and wonderful musical world of Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours.

Beatitudes and thank yous to: brother Bob Fletcher; Micky & Ali at Warm; Dave Philpot at Republic Of Music; all the artists and their families who helped with sleeve notes. Hugs to: Tony Higgins; Peter Adarkwah at BBE; Danny McLewin; Patrick Forge & Laura; AOR Disco’s Matthew Hamilton; Rhys Jones; Peter Beaver; Chris Maude & Fritz; James Clark; Les Fisher; Sie Norfolk; Richard Melay; Penny Carey; Nigel Pickford; ‘Geoff’ Cave; Christopher Todd Penn; Tim DeLaughter; Barnaby ‘Jah Shabby’ Harsent; Simon John Roberts & Juvenile 2000; Spinadisc Records; Asa Bricknell; Andy Pye; Alan McKinnon; Santi Oviedo; Mark GV Taylor; and friends on verygoodplus.co.uk

Blessings and virtual hugs to all the online supporters of my music. If I forgot to mention you, sorry.

Praise be; David Crosby, Terry Callier, Arthur Lee, Brian Wilson, Nick Drake, Bridget St. John, Ian Curtis, Matt Deighton, Ken Kesey and Albert Hofmann.

Paul Hillery, 2023

Music Is Love

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All artwork on this page are owned by the artist who created them © No copyright infringement is intended – this post is for eductional uses only

August 5, 2022

Femme Folk Funk

So… I started doing these all female folk funk complations sometime back and rather than do separate posts for each one I thought I would make it easy and stick them all on the same page.

Welcome to Femme Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours

Volume 12

  1. Slow Burning Candle by Sally Townes
  2. Blue Sunny Sky Day by Wendy Grose
  3. A Witch’s Call by Sirani Avedis
  4. Can’t Be Easy by Ann Reed
  5. Days And Nights by Pixie Lauer
  6. Free And Easy by Cathie Stewart
  7. I Won’t Try by Maryanne Mahoney
  8. Going Out Of My Head by Gail Wynters
  9. I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times by B.J. Ward
  10. The Magic Wasn’t There by Julie Covington
  11. Mom (Can I Talk To You?) by Jan Rhodes
  12. Take My Number by Marshall Hain
  13. I Wanna See It Again by Jennifer Lyn
  14. Dreams by Jane Blue
  15. A Dream And A Little Magic by Jennie Rylatt
  16. I Scare Myself by Georgia Brown
  17. Well I Did by Frannie Hesson
  18. Everything I Do With You by Jasmine
  19. Mystery Man by Trisha Watts
  20. Celebration by Cathy Lunsford
  21. Speak The Truth by Louisa Jane White

Volume 11

  1. Wish I Was A Single Girl Again by Tia Blake
  2. Sunday Morning by Pixie Lauer
  3. Sleepin’ Out by Woody Simmons
  4. 500 Pieces Fully Interlocking by Nanette Natal
  5. Land Of Wonder by Marla Fant
  6. Highway by Susan Pillsbury
  7. White Bird by Wheatones
  8. The Lady Has No Heart by St. Elmo’s Fire
  9. I’m Going To Be Seeing A Lot Of You by Varela
  10. Silent Walkers by Susan Slack
  11. Hands Off by Kacey
  12. Trashanken by Agneta Zelán
  13. E Poi… by Mina
  14. New Wine by Jessi Colter
  15. Children by Louisa Jane White
  16. Last Morning by Joanne Glasscock
  17. Like A Seed by Morgana King
  18. Love Is The Only Medication (That Can Soothe My Soul) by Cheri Adams
  19. Gotta Do My Best by Chris Harwood
  20. Tell Me Can You Feel It by Jessy Morrison
  21. Did You Give The World Some Love Today, Baby by Doris
  22. Till The Ends Meet by Florence Warner

Volume 10

  1. Love Music by Esther Satterfield
  2. Billy Sunshine by The Sugar Townes
  3. Depend On Me by Jo Ann Garrett
  4. What A Beautiful Place by Catherine Howe
  5. Think (About It) by Bonnie Bramlett
  6. You Never Come Closer by Doris
  7. Let Yourself Go by Adrian Smith
  8. Patterns by Barbara Cooper
  9. White Bird by Tia Blake
  10. Paper Dreams by Pattie Lane
  11. Nothing Much Is Happening Today by Norma Tanega
  12. Honey Water by Kai Moore
  13. What More by Terry Garthwaite
  14. Oh No No No Not The Beast Day  by Marsha Hunt
  15. A Quietude Into The 7th Dimension  by Norma Green
  16. Make Me Yours by Bettye Swann
  17. This Is The Moment by Edith Peters
  18. This Is That by JoAnn Perkins And The World Missions For Christ Choir
  19. Love In Them There Hills by Mother Trucker

Volume 9

  1. I Thought I Knew The Answers by Susan Pillsbury
  2. Sunset In The West by Tami Osborne
  3. Grey Today by Woody Simmons
  4. Illusion by Norma Tanega
  5. City Wine by Faith Brown
  6. What A Beautiful Place by Catherine Howe
  7. Let It Shine by Priscilla
  8. Let’s Spend The Night Together by Claudine Longet
  9. Don’t Be Afraid To Touch Me by Joanne Glasscock
  10. Next Passing Star by Elly Dee
  11. Sweet Song by Blue Lady
  12. Plastic Rose by Cincinnati Joe & Mad Lydia
  13. Look Around Rock by Penny Nichols
  14. Coming Home by Cathy Young
  15. There’s No Hurry by Kathy Stack
  16. Let’s Get Together by Bonnie Dobson
  17. Chained To You by Tina Smith (with Sensation)
  18. Free From The City by The Poppy Family Featuring Susan Jacks

Volume 8

  1. Fly High by Bridget St. John
  2. Hot Or Cold by Lilly
  3. Lambsbread by Momi Riley
  4. Blue by Judy And The P.T.S.
  5. The Sun by Peggy Weston
  6. Jam Session (Cruising With The Blues) by Susan Carter
  7. No Tail To Wag by Dana Gillespie
  8. Think About The Children by Fanny Hill
  9. The Juggler by Fox
  10. She Brings the Morning With Her by Justine
  11. Sally Free And Easy by Marianne Faithfull
  12. If I Could Sing by Risa Potters
  13. Steal Away by Bobbie Gentry
  14. Up In Smoke by Corky Hale
  15. Do You Really Wanna Go by Jackie Robinson
  16. Get It Back by Goldie Zelkowitz
  17. Slippin’ Into Darkness by Gimmicks

Volume 7

  1. Hear What I Have To Say by Chris Harwood
  2. Look Around Rock by Penny Nichols
  3. Don’t Be Afraid To Touch Me by Joanne Glasscock
  4. Nothing Much Is Happening Today by Norma Tanega
  5. The Baby by Monica Zetterlund
  6. City Wine by Faith Brown
  7. Close To Me by Christine Perfect
  8. Love Is Fine by Judy MacKenzie
  9. Seven Virgins by Kathy Smith
  10. Chelsea Morning by Sylvia McNeill
  11. Space Age Lullaby by Jackie Lee
  12. The Lady Barber by Lynn Castle With Last Friday’s Fire
  13. The Loner by B.J. Ward
  14. Dead by Dana Gillespie
  15. Speak The Truth by Louisa Jane White
  16. What by Tina Mason
  17. I’ll Be Somewhere Around by Tina Smith (with Sensation)
  18. Meaning of Love by Karin Krog
  19. Baby’s Gone by Bobbi Humphrey

Volume 6

  1. Just Follow Me by The Carolyn Hester Coalition
  2. Colour That Lightning by Cathy Young
  3. Early Morning Blues by Bahia Tavakolian
  4. Rainy Night Blues by Shelagh McDonald
  5. I Got Stung by Bonnie Dobson
  6. You Got The Beat by Kathy Stack
  7. He Quit Me by Leslie Miller
  8. Question Of Time by Chris Harwood
  9. Love by Margo Guryan
  10. Help! by April
  11. Clotho’s Web by Julie Felix
  12. Hurdy Gurdy Man by Eartha Kitt
  13. Man In The Middle by Gale Garnett & The Gentle Reign
  14. Shake It by Nanette Workman
  15. Ani Kuni by Rika Zaraï
  16. Spiral by Essra Mohawk
  17. The Moving Finger by Dorothy Ashby

Volume 5

  1. Road To Destiny by Frankie With The Nocturnes
  2. Wear Your Love Like Heaven by Eartha Kitt
  3. Can’t Find My Way Home by Yvonne Elliman
  4. And You Never Knew by Howdy Moon
  5. Another Side Of Time by Momi Riley
  6. Sunday Morning by Margo Guryan
  7. Oh My Sunshine by Thelma Lou
  8. Personlight Brev by Turid
  9. What Do You Do When You’ve Lost Your Love by Guardians Of The Rainbow
  10. Hedfan (Melltith Ar Y Nyth) by Gillian Elisa Thomas
  11. Meditation by Noah
  12. Time by Hunter Davies
  13. By Your Side by Double You
  14. You Never Come Closer by Doris
  15. I Think You’re Letting Me Go by Renee Armand
  16. Use Me by Liza Minnelli
  17. No Road Is The Right Road by Christine Perfect
  18. I Heard It Through The Grapevine by Merit Hemmingson

Volume 4

  1. En Pleurer Ou En Rire by Diane Tell
  2. Emoriô by Fafá De Belem
  3. High by Cheryl Dilcher
  4. Мгновенье, Стой (For What It’s Worth) by Диско
  5. High Flying Bird by Rejoice!
  6. Rose by Fifty Foot Hose
  7. Missed Another Day by The Gingerbread Express
  8. Wichita Lineman by Sunday’s Child
  9. Jimmy With The Amber Eyes by Betsy Chapman
  10. Collage by The Three Degrees
  11. Everyone’s A Dealer by Cathy Young
  12. Little Wheel Spin And Spin by Chakra
  13. All Of Your Life by Shirley Nanette
  14. Automo Joe by Dorothy Wallace
  15. Driving Wheel by Paulette Parker
  16. Another Useless Day by Teresa Brewer
  17. We Got Our Bag by Peggy Scott & Jo Jo Benson
  18. Nothing But Your Shadow by Ivy Peebles

Volume 3

  1. Honeytree by Nancy Honeytree
  2. Can’t Say Why by Woody Simmons
  3. Travel In A Circle by Kathy Smith
  4. Rod’s Song by Shelagh McDonald
  5. Speedbreaker by Claire Hamill
  6. Primrose Hill by Kathe Green
  7. Magician In The Mountain by Sunforest
  8. Indian Ropeman by The Revells
  9. Lucky Lost Sin by Niki Aukema
  10. If I Could by Erica Pomerance
  11. The Devil’s Driving Me by Catherine Howe
  12. Little By Little by Goldie Zelkowitz
  13. We Could Learn Together by Talya Ferro
  14. Give A Man A Tree by Jo Ann Smith
  15. Big Sur by Vicki Britton
  16. Gonna’ Let You Have It by Gary & Sandy
  17. Lost Little Thing by Cecilia
  18. La Fille De Papier Glace by Julie Saget
  19. Les Petits Ballons by France Gall
  20. Some Kind Of Fever by Maxine Sellers

Volume 2

  1. My Aunt Edna by Bonnie Koloc
  2. Eli’s Comin’ by The Anita Kerr Singers
  3. Peace And Love And Freedom – Part One by Judy MacKenzie
  4. People In The Front Row by Melanie
  5. Scarborough Fair by Deena Webster
  6. Fisherman King by Barbara Keith
  7. Don’t Mind Me by Dana Gillespie
  8. Raspberry Jam by Carole King
  9. Paint a Lady by Susan Christie
  10. Annie’s Magical Brew by Nanette Natal
  11. Misfit Matilda by Cathy Young
  12. We’re All In This Together by Bethany
  13. Sunshine In My Rainy Day Mind by Polly Niles
  14. On My Mind by Elly Dee
  15. Sun by Margo Guryan
  16. Sweet Song Bird by April
  17. Starin’ At The Wall by Lilly
  18. I’m Funky by Grootna

Volume 1

  1. Pretty Polly by Judy Collins
  2. Morning Dew by Bonnie Dobson
  3. Jenny by Heaven & Earth
  4. Summer Wind by Kathy Stack
  5. You’ve Come This Way Before by Nancy Priddy
  6. Taking So Long by Kathy Smith
  7. Take Me With You by Lyn Christopher
  8. And That’s Saying A Lot by Christine Perfect
  9. All The Music In Me by Catherine Howe
  10. Woodenships by Christine Harwood
  11. Mountain Song by Penny Nichols
  12. Hard To Leave The Island by Margaret Wakeley
  13. All I Dream by Estelle Levitt
  14. I See One Rainbow In Your Eyes by by Eliane Stevens
  15. Catch A Robber By The Toe by Sylvia McNeil
  16. Beatmaker by Doris
  17. Jimmy Jean by Ellen McIlwaine

Just click here to be whisked along the ether to my Mixcloud profile

Click here to go back to my blog home page

Music Is Love

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July 14, 2022

Soul Of Folk Funk

Over the last 10 years or so I have uploaded 113 Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours mixes. I have tried hard not to repeat any of the tracks, so that’s over 1500 songs! I have picked out a few of my favourites that have a little bit of soul. It is what I call the Soul Of Folk Funk.

They are up on Mixcloud but I thought I’d group them all here just for you x

Soul Of Folk Funk track list

Marsha

Marsha | Soul Of Folk Funk Vol 1

  1. River Man by Andy Bey
  2. Spin, Spin, Spin by Terry Callier
  3. Movin’ Day by Brook Benton
  4. Nature Boy by Richard Barbary & Soul Machine
  5. Never Felt Like This Before by Charlie Smalls
  6. The Far Side Of The Hill by Harry Belafonte
  7. Now Is The Time For Love (Part 2) by Darrow Fletcher
  8. Still Thinking Of You Flute Solo (Instrumental) by Steve Marshall
  9. You Can’t Blame Me by Johnson, Hawkins, Tatum & Durr
  10. Bend Your Head Low by Geoffrey Stoner
  11. Lady Lisa by George Parks
  12. Lady Love by Jon Lucien
  13. Our Lives Are Shaped By What We Love by Odyssey
  14. Moment by Kris Peterson
  15. Gone, Is The Laughter Of You by L.C. Grier
  16. Do You Believe In Voodoo by Marsha Hunt
  17. I Can See The Sun In Late December by Roberta Flack
  18. It Takes Two by The Summits
  19. (Where Is The) Sunshine Pt. I by Kalima
  20. I Can’t Move No Mountains by Free Movement

Marvin | Soul Of Folk Funk Vol 2

  1. Son Of The Zulu King by Free Movement
  2. Didn’t I by Darondo
  3. Nevermore by Jerry Townes
  4. Color Him Father by The Winstons
  5. A Love Like Yours by Total Eclipes
  6. You Came, You Saw, But You Didn’t Conquer Me by Bobby Jameson
  7. As Time Goes On by Body & Soul
  8. Black Child by Morris Dow And Eastern Sound
  9. I’ll Never Let You Stay Blue by Marcelle Joseph
  10. Right On by Marvin Gaye
  11. Sun by Gregory Paul
  12. Storm by Billy Butler & Infinity
  13. You’ll Wake Up Wiser by Chuck Boris
  14. Chicago, Damn by Bobbi Humphrey
  15. The War Song by Jon Lucien
  16. Sound Of The Samba by Victor Davies
  17. Let The Sunshine In by Sons And Daughters Of Lite
Minnie

Minnie | Soul Of Folk Funk Vol 3

  1. I Get Crazy by Bobby Hart
  2. Loving Kind Of Way by The Jam
  3. Loving You by Jessy Morrison
  4. False Alarm by Krystal
  5. Empty Room by Evolution
  6. The Dove Of Peace by J. J. Jones
  7. Waterfall by Gene McDaniels
  8. Andrea by Donal Leace
  9. Love Is A Thing by Icarus
  10. Brother Orchid by Bobby Lee Fears
  11. Les Fleur by Minnie Riperton
  12. Chained To You by Tina Smith
  13. Nice by Joe Akens
  14. Let’s Take A Look At Our Children by Joe West And Sling Shot
  15. Catch The Day by George Parks
  16. Poor Make Believer by Brook Benton
  17. Hard To Get A Thing Called Love by Tony Bruno
  18. Gypsy by McKinnley Mitchell
  19. Red Rosy Bush by Lou Gossett
  20. I Hate Hate by Razzy Bailey

Terry | Soul Of Folk Funk Vol 4

  1. It’s Bigger Than I by Jon Lucien
  2. Time by Oscar Brown Jr.
  3. Just Say the Word by Jerry Townes
  4. I Want To Be Ready by Billy Bailey
  5. This Is The Woman by Sidney Pinchback And The Sisters
  6. Willoughby Grove by Brook Benton
  7. Fire And Rain by Geoffrey Stoner
  8. That’s What It’s All About by Madeline Bell
  9. Time Flies by Benida Madison
  10. Charade by Four Tracks
  11. If I Could Have My Way by Pierre Ruffino
  12. Dancing Girl by Terry Callier
  13. Crystal Blue Persuasion by Joe Bataan
  14. You Could Have Tried by Karen Sander’s Group
  15. You Are On My Mind by The Millionaires
  16. Hey There Little Firefly (Part 2) by Firefly
  17. Don’t Set Me Free (Part 1) by Thomas East

Pena | Soul Of Folk Funk Vol 5

  1. Signs Of Winters Time (Instrumental) by Crystal Winds
  2. A Day In The Life by Chocolate Snow
  3. Gentle Is My Love by Al Sharp
  4. The Touch Of You by Brenda & The Tabulations
  5. A Famous Myth by The Carnival
  6. You Don’t Have To Worry by Doris & Kelley
  7. Free by Catherine (Cat) Parson
  8. When I’m Gone by Paul Pena
  9. In Limbo by Bugsy Maugh
  10. Foggy Day by Lonnie Sattin
  11. The World’s Strongest Man by Scott Engel
  12. Heaven Only Knows by Larry Parks
  13. See See Rider by Lou Gossett
  14. Mini Wars, Many Loves by Billy Miller
  15. Still Thinking Of You (Vocal) by Steve Parks
  16. If I Could Only Be Sure by Nolan Porter
  17. The War Song by Jon Lucien
  18. Takin’ Care Of Business by Universal Jones
  19. What Is Life by Lee Stone
Bobbi

Bobbi | Soul Of Folk Funk Vol 6

  1. Metropolis by Walter Hawkins
  2. For You by Barbara & Ernie
  3. Morning Dew by Wendy Peters
  4. All Of Your Life by Shirley Nanette
  5. Morning Madness by Scott Cunningham
  6. Tell Me A Tale by Michael Kiwanuka
  7. Gimme Some by William ‘Darondo’ Pulliam
  8. What Is Wrong With Grovin’ by Early Editions
  9. Why Can’t There Be Love by Dee Edwards
  10. Missed Another Day by The Gingerbread Express
  11. The Snake by Harley Farquart Express
  12. It’s Your Thing by Sandra Alexandra
  13. Shangri La by The Royalettes
  14. Tennessee Voodoo by Booker T Jones
  15. Ron And Eddie Blues by Rod Abernethy
  16. What Have They Done To The Moon by Eddie Jason
  17. Congress Alley by Congress Alley
  18. Would You Believe In Me by Jon Lucien
  19. Blacks And Blues by Bobbi Humphrey
  20. Be Thankful For What You Got, Part 1 by William DeVaughn

Music Is Love

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July 7, 2022

Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours Volume One | RE:WARM

RE:WARM Records are more than delighted to announce a collaborative release between the label and Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours’ main man Paul Hillery.

… claimed to know of the existence of a mysterious country called Sugarcandy Mountain situated somewhere up in the sky, a little distance beyond the clouds, and in Sugarcandy Mountain it was Sunday seven days a week…

Known in collectors’ circles for his deep digging antics & his immersive mix series on his blog, Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours. Paul has gained a reputation as the go-to man for many compilers and labels for information pretty much unavailable anywhere on the net. He’s built long-standing relationships with many lost and forgotten artists and is on a mission to give these guys the exposure he believes they deserve. Paul is a very well-respected collector of private press obscurities, lost loner folk, strange musical fauna and intricately played floral powered wonders.

For Volume One in the series, Paul has compiled 19 tracks that represent the journey he’s been on with the Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours sound to date. There’s music here that has never seen the light of day, demo versions that never made the cut, new exclusive material and beloved classics from the FFTT Vaults. The compilation is a sonic landscape of Canyon Rock, Hot Tub Soul, Frisco Folk, Balearic Breeze & Trippy Troubadourial Treasures all lovingly handpicked for the series.

So what is this ‘Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours’ thing anyway? It’s tricky to put a finger on. Folk-funk has been around for a while, it’s a groove that sounds like it has one leg shorter than the other, let’s call it a funky limp. ‘Feel The Spirit’ by Heaven & Earth, ‘Taking So Long’ by Kathy Smith, ‘Mountain Song’ by Penny Nichols, and ‘Woodenships’ by Christine Harwood are all great places to start. ‘& Trippy Troubadours’ was added to give a little wiggle room from the genre police and incorporates things as disparate as private lost loner folk to modern singer-songwriters that ooze with just the right feeling.

All tracks handpicked by Paul Hillery; a heathen, conceivably, but not, I hope an unenlightened one. Father, friend, vinyl hunter and curator at Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours. pH has carried his record boxes to many a venue and played alongside The Polyphonic Spree, Arthur Lee & Love, Bonnie Dobson, Spiritualized, 4 Hero, Happy Mondays, Simian, The Bees, Julian Cope, Courtney Pine and many, many, more. He has also graced the turning tables at Spiritland, Refuge, Festival No.6, Lunar Festival, Edinburgh Festival, Psychemagik’s Magik Forest and supplied guest mixes broadcast on stations all over the globe.

‘Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours Volume One’compiled by Paul Hillery and released by RE:WARM is available to purchase at this link

Duncan Pryce Kirk ~ Space Out

Duncan Pryce Kirk was a much-loved musician from Richland, Washington. He was well known and respected throughout the Tri-Cities music scene. ‘Space Out’ is taken from his only album ‘Journey To Beyond’ released in 1982. A multi-instrumentalist, Duncan Pryce Kirk was on vocal duties, acoustic, electric and twelve-string guitar, synthesizer, string machine, and keyboard. Backed with John Plows on percussion, the engineer was Dave Carpenter and the album mixed by Tom Fortier. It was recorded at Music Machine Studio, Kennewick, Washington State.

Duncan is survived by his daughter, Phoebe.

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Eik ~ Mr Sadness

‘Mr Sadness’ is the flip of ‘Hotel Garbage Can’ a 1975 Icelandic single released on Demant. Eik featured Lárus Grímsson on flute, Sigurður K. Sigurðsson on vocals, Þorsteinn Magnússon on guitar, Haraldur Þorsteinsson on bass, Ólafur Sigurðsson on drums, Sigurður Long on Saxophone and Berglind Bjarnadóttir, Helga Steinson, Janis Carol on backing vocals. An Icelandic funk fusion band with a definite progressive-leaning.

Releasing two albums; the privately pressed ‘Speglun’ (1976) and a follow-up ‘Hríslan Og Straumurinn’ (1977) on the Icelandic label Steinar.

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Joe Hall & Eyeball Wine Company ~ Moveable Feast

Joe Hall was born Hans Joachim Boenke; May 15, 1947, in Wuppertal, Germany. His family moved to America to flee post-war Germany settling in Ontario, Canada. A gifted musician, Joe began performing at coffee shops and with local bands. By the early ‘70s, Joe had begun performing and touring as Joe Hall and The Eyeball Wine Company. A fixture on the Toronto music scene for over 40 years, Hall called Peterborough, Ontario his home. A highly regarded and inspirational musician, a true original, whose sharp wit, insightful social commentary, and wildly entertaining stage presence made him one of Canada’s legendary folk-rockers.

‘Moveable Feast’ was originally featured on the 1972 private press compilation produced in association with the ACME Sausage Company radio show on CKUA. Joe Hall & The Eyeball Wine Company featured Joe, along with Roger Brant on bass and vocals, George Dobo on lead guitar, and session musician Richard Hart on saxophone.

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Christian Besa Wright ~ Cherry Blossom Oak

Christian is a DIY producer/songwriter from Hawaii. ‘Cherry Blossom Oak’ was written and recorded in 2017 as an assignment for an Asian-American History course and released independently in March 2018. Initially inspired by an article concerning the experience of mixed-race contestants in Japanese ‘Cherry Blossom’ beauty pageants the song explores a complicated dynamic of cultural assimilation experienced by second-generation immigrants. Written and tracked in a single night, the song features slide guitar, fingerpicked nylon string guitar, bass, baby grand piano, programmed drums and double-tracked vocals. The result is an intimate bedroom recording.

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Wendy Grose ~ Blue Sunny Sky Day

Wendy Grose (now Wendy Grace) originally played piano and flute but fell in love with the guitar aged 15 after listening to her brother learning to play. Wendy began guitar lessons, learning to play on a 12 string guitar. She played intricate Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young tunes until she had very strong fingers. She performed in folk clubs around Sydney, Australia. Starting work at Clover Recording Studios, where she was originally assigned to reception work, Wendy’s talent was soon recognised, and she began to work as a session/studio singer and guitar player.

She was given a recording contract with Albert Music. ‘Blue Sunny Sky Day’ is a track from her first album Backyard of Blue, recorded at Albert Studios in Sydney, Australia in 1975 when she was just 19.

Wendy continued to release music and now lives in the Tweed Valley, surrounded by the spectacular beaches of New South Wales, Australia. She runs popular singing workshops and weekly singing groups.

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Ruth Finlay ~ Deep Calls To Deep

Ruth Finlay was born and raised in Birchcliff Village in Toronto. At the age of six, she began her music studies on piano at the Royal Conservatory of Music of Toronto. Ruth studied flute, music theory, and guitar. She sang in several folk groups as a teenager.

Music eventually introduced her to many opportunities to travel to various countries of the world with Shekinah, a Christian performing arts company. She toured England, Holland, and travelled with the group to North America before joining them for almost a year in Israel. While in Israel she studied flute with the first-chair flautist of the Jerusalem Symphony – Hanoch Tel Oren.

Ruth produced her first album of original songs at age 22. ‘Awake North Wind’ was created at the Master’s Workshop with co-producer Doug J McKenzie. She worked as a singer/dancer/actress in the repertory theatre troupe ‘The Inner Stage’ from the age of 23 to the age of 25 and at 26 joined Merv and Merla in Israel. After returning home she continued to write music and study with voice teachers in her hometown of Toronto while studying music and drama at U of Toronto.

‘Deep Calls To Deep’ is a track taken from Finlay’s album ‘The Borderlands’ originally released on her own record label, Jesse Records in 1999. Ruth co-produced the album with Paul LaChapell at Quest Recording Studio, Oshawa, Ontario. Inspired by inner reflections and hopes for humanity and enhanced by the performances of master flautist Ron Korb, guitarist Ray Hickey Jr., bassist Steve Lucas, drummer Larry Crowe, cellist Daniel Domb, (from the Toronto Symphony) keyboardist John Cleveland Hughes, (Ruth’s brother), and blues guitarist Buzz Upshaw.

Finlay has had a long and consistent music career collaborating with many musicians as well as performing in more than 2,000 concerts. She has completed and released altogether 13 albums. Ruth continues to write
and record her original music as well as teach her music students of all ages to develop their music skills and share their music with others.

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Will & James Ragar ~ Clouds Lift

The first time James Ragar remembers hearing his older brother perform was in Lafayette, Louisiana. Will was the singer alongside the American blues musician Sonny Landreth, who was backed by his original trio. Sonny, known for his slide guitar technique, was also from Southwest Louisiana.

Will & James Ragar started playing rock and roll in clubs on the Crawfish Circuit, a string of venues that stretched from the Cajun country of Southern Louisiana to New Orleans. But the tide was turning. The acoustic sound of the ‘70s provided the brothers with even more venues and a songbook of contemporary singer-songwriters. Slowly, they began adding their own songs to their sets. These original songs gained popularity.

They began a series of performances opening for headline artists, including Stephen Stills, Leon Russell, and Taj Mahal. They also began touring throughout Texas, showcasing at the Kerrville Folk Festival.

It was Spring of 1980, and the grasslands of the old houses in the garden district of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, were lush and filled with flowers. James Ragar sat amongst the beauty and focused on the sounds he
could hear and began to compose the first draft of ‘Clouds Lift’.

In 2016 James picked up the song again, recording it using acoustic guitars and vintage microphones to create an original old-school sound. It can be heard for the first time here on ‘Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours Volume One’.

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Scott Seskind ~ I Wonder

Taken from Scott Seskind’s 1985 self-titled, privately pressed lo-fi folk album filled with melodically haunting, existential woes, political angst, and love. Recorded at home in LA on a Tascam 4-Track Portastudio cassette. The session was captured in the broom closet of childhood friend and fellow songwriter Chris Hickey, who also adds backing vocals and percussion (hear the scissors?).

Scott reports feeling as desperate and divided today as he did when he wrote the song, which he describes as a mix of worried self-reflection, social criticism and sexual innuendo.
Seskind continues to live in Boulder, Colorado with wife Julie, who he
sings of in this song, but she has somehow gone from 17 to 55 and they now have two adult children and three grandchildren.

A recently published bio of Scott in the underground music zine ‘Ugly Things’ can be found at seskind.com

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Tim McKenna ~ Where Are You?

’Where Are You?’ is from the single released in 1971 on Eric Wrobbel’s Distortion imprint. Tim plays and sings everything you hear, with the exception of woodblock and triangle.

Tim McKenna met classmate Eric Wrobbel at high school in Pontiac, Michigan. Wrobbel who, in 1969 at the tender age of 15, founded Distortion Records, released several records under his own name and also with the Moonshine Forestry Outfit. McKenna was intrigued with the records Wrobbel was making and wanted to record his own songs.

‘Where Are You?’ was recorded in four tracks on March 30 and 31, 1971. The first track was rhythm guitar and lead vocal, the second was organ. The sound was achieved by recording late at night in a large, empty church. The next day two more tracks were recorded in Wrobbel’s bedroom, grandiosely dubbed Distortion Recording Studio A. On track three Tim played lead guitar and Eric played the aforementioned woodblock & triangle. Track four was a second vocal part by Tim, the result is a remarkable vocal fullness achieved with just two vocal layers.

Wrobbel recalls that at the Distortion session, Tim spent a lot of the time on the studio’s phone, talking plaintively to a certain Rhonda, for whom he apparently ‘had it bad’ but whose father disapproved of Tim. The result was a pretty forlorn-looking Tim, and at that session, he sang as he looked on a wild ride of teenage emotion. ‘Where Are You?’ is taken from the 45 rpm single (Distortion DS45-012-B). Produced by Eric Wrobbel. This recording was digitized from the original master tape in 2015 under the supervision of Mr Wrobbel. Tim McKenna is no longer with us, passing in 2011.

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Jeb Loy Nichols ~ Sweet Sweet Stay Awhile

Born in Wyoming and raised in Missouri listening to bluegrass and country music. Later, his nocturnal radio adventures helped him fall in love with southern soul.

At fifteen Jeb Loy Nichols heard his first punk record and he was changed for good. In 1979 at 17 he received a scholarship to art school in New York. Dubbed ‘Fear City’ it was gritty, street-smart and a hotplate of new ideas. Punk was over but hip-hop was starting and Nichols became obsessed with this new musical expression. His first recording, in 1980, was an unreleased rap song called ‘I’m A Country Boy’.

In 1981 he visited friends in London and found himself living in a squat with Ari Up (from the Slits), Neneh Cherry and Adrian Sherwood, who put Jeb to work moving boxes of records across London. Sherwood and his complete disregard for genre purity have been one of Nichols biggest influences.

‘Sweet Sweet Stay Awhile’ was recorded around 2000, Jeb Loy – “I wrote what I thought was a country song and imagined it having steel guitars and fiddles. When we got into the studio everything changed. I was working with the great bass player Wayne Nunes, who played with African Head Charge and Tricky, and he brought a new feel to it. It started to morph into something I hadn’t expected.”

The track also features the backing vocals of the talented Loraine Morley, and was cut in a fast creative session and then, when finished, they had no idea what to do with the hybrid of British folk, American country, Caribbean bass, electronica and hip-hop. It sat around for 20 years before finally being released here.

Nichols is an American living on a remote Welsh smallholding. Dubbed ‘The high priest of country cool’ by Rolling Stone Magazine.

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Gary Boyle ~ So Many Times Before

‘So Many Times Before’ is the only vocal track on the ‘Step Out’ album, originally released in 1980, and has Boyle on vocal duties.

Recorded and mixed in Copenhagen during the summer of 1980 with Gary’s English band: Gary Boyle on Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, and Vocals, Gary Culshaw on Bass, Graham Dean on Drums, Paul Birchall on keyboards and the session also included prominent Scandinavian guests, such as Stefan Nilsson performing the Prophet 5 solo and Jakob Andersen on Percussion on So Many Times Before. The album featured Janne Schaffer on Guitar, and the flautist Björn J:son Lind, and Martin Levan on both engineering duties and production.

Gary Boyle joined Brian Auger’s Trinity in 1967 and he continues to play with Brian Auger. He is also a session musician and continues to release his own solo material.

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Peter Wale ~ One Quiet Sultry Sunday

Originally on Peter Wale’s privately pressed 1972 album ‘The Memoirs Of Hakeford Wart (Goodbye Cape Town)’. ‘One Quiet Sultry Sunday’ was hatched during an impromptu collaboration with guitarist, Allan Faull, in the shadow of the Rhodes Monument on the lower slopes of Table Mountain.

Formerly the leader of the short-lived South African band Wakeford Hart, who had been active in the local underground rock scene in the early ‘70s. Peter continued to play with other musicians and as a solo artist, gradually growing dissatisfied with his local music scene and decided that he wanted to travel and experience the world.

In late 1971, Peter joined the crew on a yacht voyage planning to sail from Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro. But before departing on his ocean voyage Peter decided to do one more concert with his friends and the live set was recorded. It was then pressed on a very limited vinyl run of fewer than 200 copies. The original album featured four songs out of the fourteen recorded. Unfortunately, few were actually sold and it’s thought fewer than ten copies survive.

During the 39-day voyage, the yacht was capsized, it was a close call. The original plan was to return to Cape Town after a sojourn in Brazil but, out from under the shadow of Apartheid, the lure of bigger ambitions grew strong for Peter and he continued to travel.

In 2010, now living in Seattle, Peter got word from South Africa. Robert Gush had come across the original master tapes of the whole 1972 concert and he could transfer the masters to digital. Peter was approached by Jason Connoy of Strawberry Rain Music, Toronto. A 3 LP expanded reissue was planned featuring all fourteen. It took five years to come to fruition, finally released in 2019.

Peter is still as engaged in the art of songwriting and lives with Rachel in an abandoned cafe in the Blue Mountains of Eastern Oregon.

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Sorahan ~ With His Siller In His Hand

Tom Sorahan formed the band Sorahan in 1974 based in the West Midlands. The band had several line-up changes over the next three years, performing up and down the UK’s pub and college circuit.

Tom borrowed the lyrics to the first verse of ‘With his Siller in his Hand’ from a Northumbrian folk song. Recorded by the band’s original line-up during the session at ZELI A Studios, Birmingham the 45 was produced by Steve Bywaters (of London based punk ensemble Running Sores) and released in 1975 on the bands’ own ‘Sorahan’ label.

In 1978 Tom Sorahan signed a recording contract with Pye and released the album ‘I’ve Seen The View, You Can Take Me Back Now’.

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Cindi Titzer ~ All For You

Cindi grew up just north of Houma, Louisiana about 60 miles south of New Orleans. She had dreams of becoming a ballet dancer. She began playing Uke at age 7, which led to playing the guitar by age 11, and by 15 she was writing songs. At 18 she moved to New Orleans to pursue ballet and began singing in the local music clubs. Playing several nights a week she travelled from New Orleans to Lafayette and Baton Rouge.

In 1975 she was approached by musician Don Hull, who suggested that they make an album of Cindi’s songs. Don had recently moved to New Orleans from L.A. after working with Jackie Mills (owner of Larrabee Sound) as a songwriter. He had purchased a 3340S 4 track TEAC and his intention was to start his own studio in New Orleans. Cindi was performing regularly travelling to L.A. and San Francisco and the album took 5 years to finish, eventually released in the Spring of 1980.

Cindi moved to Laguna Beach, California in 1983. By then the music scene was shifting toward New Wave and Punk and most clubs were not using solo artists. But she played often at ski resorts and music clubs in the Sierra foothills along hi-way 49.

Over the past 30 years, she continued to play music with some wonderful musicians. Recently retired and now a Grandmother she lives in Mt. Shasta, Ca.

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Smokey ~ Topaz

John ‘Smokey’ Condon grew up in Baltimore immersed in the counter-culture of the ‘60s. He lived above a nightclub as a teen and partied in the legendary John Waters scene. He sang in local groups and became involved in activism, protesting the Vietnam War, marching with civil rights leader Cesar Chavez, and fighting for gay rights at the Stonewall riots in New York City.

He hung out with the Doors’ road manager Vince Treanor and accompanied the band to the 1970 Isle of Wight festival, where he was exposed to the Who, Emerson, Lake & Palmer. He soon moved into Treanor’s house in the Hollywood Hills and was introduced to record producer EJ Emmons. Emmons was co-producing with sunshine pop mastermind Curt Boettcher. The music Smokey and Emmons would produce would be very different. The first single ‘Leather’ b/w ‘Miss Ray’, was released in 1974. It examined America’s gay underground leather and drag scenes.

Using Emmons’ industry contacts the single was shopped around to labels. But doors were routinely slammed on the duo. As a result, Smokey went on to form his own imprint, S&M Records. Five singles were released. ‘Topaz’ being the third, originally b/w ‘Topanga’, it was released in 1976 and then re-issued in 1978 b/w with a new track ‘Ballad Of Butchie & Claudine’.

In 2015 a retrospective of Smokey’s work, transferred and restored from the original master tapes by Emmons, and titled ‘How Far Will You Go? – The S&M Recordings 1973-81’, was released by the Australian label Chapter Music. The album tracks featured cameos by Stooges guitarist James Williamson and Ozzy Osbourne cohort Randy Rhoads.

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Geoff Bartley ~ Don’t Want To Know About Evil

Bartley abandoned the clarinet and began playing acoustic guitar in 1963. His influences are all-over-the-map from Bessie Smith to Dave Van Ronk, John Martyn to Nic Jones, Ray Charles to Mose Allison, Joni Mitchell to Randy Newman, Bruce Springsteen to Bruce Cockburn. Primary influences are early Bob Dylan and Texas blues singer, Lightnin’ Sam Hopkins. Bartley won four guitars at the National Fingerpicking Championships in Winfield, Kansas.

Recorded in 1983 this track appears on ‘Blues Beneath the Surface’ self pressed in 1984 on Bartley’s own label ‘Magic Crow Records’. The song is played on acoustic guitar (in drop D tuning) and vocal recorded live, chromatic harmonica was overdubbed by ‘Wildman’ Mike Turk, upright bass was overdubbed by Tim Wells. The cover photo was taken by Kari Estrin, Kari Estrin Management and Consulting in Nashville, TN.
Geoff Bartley has released eleven full-length recordings since ‘Blues Beneath the Surface’ and has composed and recorded instrumental music for the German library label Sonoton. With instrumentals used on the History Channel, Animal Planet, A&E, The Learning Channel, the Discovery Channel, National Geographic, NOVA and Nature on PBS, in documentary and commercial films, and in private and commercial advertising in the US and elsewhere.

He continues to play live almost exclusively in southern New England and actively supports his local music scene.

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Robin Woodland ~ One Golden Moment

In 1978, aged 23, Robin Woodland was already a musician, a community organiser, a rock climber, an organic farmer, an educator, and a wilderness trip leader. He was now launching a recording studio. Melon Studio was one of the first alternative (cheap!) music recording studios in San Francisco. The first album produced at Melon was a benefit record for a high school environmental education program. Kids did internships as engineers in the studio, did all the cover art and helped raise the money for the pressings, and even sold the albums.

In Robin’s own words – a completely impractical fundraising plan,
but a rich and rewarding learning experience.

‘One Golden Moment’ was the title track of the album released in 1978. It was written in a moment of solitude while witnessing the sunrise in the wild beauty of the High Sierras, California. Robin Woodland – a pure song. I wasn’t trying to create a catchy tune. I was having an experience of my heart being opened by love.

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Richard Pass ~ We’ll Find Love

Richard Pahigian (Pass) was born in 1946, in Worcester, Massachusetts. His earliest years were spent living with his mother and brother in his grandmother’s apartment while his father was away in the service.

Always creative, Richard had begun putting lyrics to music at an early age. As he grew older he performed at local venues, including joining several Polka bands and playing at weddings. On a sunny day at the beach in Cape Cod, 1968, Richard casually sings and plays the guitar. He was approached by a musician who was spending the summer working at ‘Your Father’s Mustache’, which was a popular local venue. He told Richard he liked what he heard. His connections resulted in Richard travelling to Chicago to meet with Cherry Records.

Richard Pahigian had written ‘We’ll Find Love’ during a quick burst of creativity. The label suggested a name change to Richard Pass and a 45 was released with ‘A World All Of Our Own’ on the flip. Soon after release the Cherry Records producer Richard had been working moved to the West Coast and their connection faded.

Through 1968 and 1969 Richard was performing more, including venues around Hyannis Port, MA. He got a regular gig at the ‘Improper Bostonian’ a venue already popular on the college music scene. After playing at the vebue for a while, Richard became concerned that he had not been paid. Asking management to look into this they found many cheques mailed to Richard Pass. They had been returned to sender as Richards postman knew him only as Pahigian. As summer was rapidly approaching Richard was hired to perform at ‘Your Father’s Mustache. Here he met John Delorenzo, who approached the young singer and told him that he had more connections. Richard had a new agent and gigs in New York City.

Moving to the Big Apple he started a residency at ‘Adam’s Rib Pub’. A group of jingle writers had started to come regularly to hear his music. They took Richard under their wing and shared his dream of landing a recording contract and finding success. Richard enjoyed the summer of music but headed back home. Richard worked as a teacher but would return to New York City on vacation weeks. Knocking on the doors of music publishers and A&R people to ask if they would give his songs a listen. But the big time was always just out of reach, leaving Richard with a back catalogue of beautiful but unreleased songs.

Richard lives with his wife Catherine, in Charlton, Massachusetts, a small rural town outside of Worcester with their little dog, Peanut.

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Kip Carmen ~ That’s Enough For Me

Kip Carmen is an R&B and soul musician out of Long Island, New York. His music career has lasted over thirty years, highlights include recording at Royal Studios in Memphis for Hi Records in the 1970s. Collaborating frequently with the great Cornell Dupree and Jimmy Allen Smith from Stuff. And opening for Albert King, B.B. King, Jerry Lee Lewis, James Cotton, and many more.

After serving in the U.S. Military Academy Band at West Point, and after being given an honourable discharge from the United States Army, in 1970, Kip put together a local band and started performing. He wrote ‘That’s Enough For Me’ in the early 1970s. It was recorded by Compass for a 45 on True Love Records, and by Kip himself in 1973 for a 45 on Queen Bee records. This record receives big responses from audiences across the country, including in Memphis, Tennessee. As a result, in July 1974, Kip received an offer to record some demos for Hi Records at Royal Recording Studios. The version featured here was recorded during that demo session. With Kip Carmen on vocals and guitar, his rhythm section from Long Island, New York featured; Ben Ninmann on Hammond Organ and Fender Rhodes Key Bass, Mark Ryan on Guitar, and Jim Walker on Drums. In 1974 Hi Records released another 45 from this session – ‘Macon Woman Blues’, on their subsidiary label Mach Records.

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Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours
Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours

See the artwork for the compilation by clicking on the image

Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours – Volume One was released on RE:WARM records September 2022.

“An endlessly rewarding compendium of outsiders” 8/10
Terry Staunton / Uncut Magazine

“This is a universe of sound you’ll be glad you washed up in” 4 Stars
Hugh Dellar / Shindig! Magazine

Also crowned compilation of the week on Lauren Lavernes BBC 6 Music show. Tracks from the compilation have also featured on Gilles Peterson BBC 6 Music show.

Features at No.5 in the Piccadilly Records END OF YEAR REVIEW 2022 / TOP 20 COMPILATIONS chart.

Also features in  Mr Bongo’s Best Of The Year 2022 chart.

https://lnk.to/ffttvol1

–

Volume Two will be released in September 2023

BBE670CLP - We Are The Children Of The Sun

See the artwork for the compilation by clicking on the image

Another of my compilations ‘We Are The Children Of The Sun’ was released April 2022 on BBE records. A lovingly handpicked musical excursion that takes in strummed soft rock, blissful beach beats, the soft fizz of electronica, all carried to your ears by a gentle summer breeze. It ranges from hazy, long-forgotten early 70s tapes, right through to digital compositions recorded during lockdown in 2020. Tune in and ruminate while consciousness is awoken with transmissions dropping out from the fringes of psyche tranquillity, holding hands with folk-funk that runs deep and hazy, as the bejewelled turquoise waters lap gently at the ocean’s shore

“One of the most emotionally uplifting and hazily beautiful compilations of recent years.” 8/10
Andrew Male MOJO Magazine

“INCREDIBLE! Every single song. It was sublime.”
Colleen Murphy Balearic Breakfast / Classic Album Sundays

“An exquisite selection of obscure private press folk funk and AOR lovingly hand picked and compiled by one of the most knowledgeable collectors in the field.”
Kev Beadle Mind Fluid / Focal Points

“Paul really is a trailblazer when it comes to this genre. With his never-ending and stupefying mixes over the years, I think it’s safe to say he’s the go-to guy for all things folk-funk. This compilation is a culmination of years of seriously deep digging and is something to be proud of. Congrats on a perfect selection. 10/10”
Danny McLewin Psychemagik

Features at No.15 in the Piccadilly Records END OF YEAR REVIEW 2022 / TOP 20 COMPILATIONS chart.

https://orcd.co/childrenofthesun>

This will be followed up with the release of ‘Once Again We Are The Children Of The Sun’ also on BBE records.

Paul Hillery

For Cassady Bean and Cosmo Kesey, I love you with all my heart

So what is this ‘Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours’ thing anyway? Well, it’s tricky to put a finger on. Folk-funk had been around for a while so I added ‘& Trippy Troubadours’ to give me a little wiggle room from the genre police. To me, the folk-funk groove sounds like it has one leg shorter than the other, let’s call it a funky limp. ‘Feel The Spirit’ by Heaven & Earth, ‘Taking So Long’ by Kathy Smith, ‘Mountain Song’ by Penny Nichols, and ‘Woodenships’ by Christine Harwood are all great places to start. And for a trippy troubadour? Well, think lost, private press, DIY and loner folk singer songwriters as seen here on this compilation.

All tracks handpicked by Paul Hillery; a heathen, conceivably, but not, I hope an unenlightened one. Father, friend, vinyl hunter and curator at Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours. pH has carried his record boxes to many a venue and played alongside The Polyphonic Spree, Arthur Lee & Love, Bonnie Dobson, Spiritualized, 4 Hero, Happy Mondays, Simian, The Bees, Julian Cope, Courtney Pine and many, many, more. He has also graced the turning tables at Spiritland, Refuge, Festival No.6, Lunar Festival, Edinburgh Festival, Psychemagik’s Magik Forest.

Beatitudes and thank yous to: brother Bob Fletcher; Micky & Ali at Warm; Dave Philpot at Republic Of Music; all the artists and their families who helped with sleeve notes. Hugs to: Tony Higgins; Peter Adarkwah at BBE; Danny McLewin; Patrick Forge & Laura; AOR Disco’s Matthew Hamilton; Rhys Jones; Peter Beaver; Chris Maude & Fritz; James Clark; Les Fisher; Sie Norfolk; Richard Melay; Penny Carey; Nigel Pickford; ‘Geoff’ Cave; Christopher Todd Penn; Tim DeLaughter; Barnaby ‘Jah Shabby’ Harsent; Simon John Roberts & Juvenile 2000; Spinadisc Records; Asa Bricknell; Andy Pye; Alan McKinnon; Santi Oviedo; Mark GV Taylor; Üllar Siir; Matt Bruce; Steven Hickey; and friends on verygoodplus.co.uk

Blessings and virtual hugs to all the online supporters of my music. If I forgot to mention you, sorry.

Praise be; David Crosby, Terry Callier, Arthur Lee, Brian Wilson, Nick Drake, Bridget St. John, Ian Curtis, Matt Deighton, Ken Kesey and Albert Hofmann.

Music is love… Paul Hillery, 2022

Music Is Love

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All artwork on this page are owned by the artist who created them © No copyright infringement is intended – this post is for eductional uses only

April 6, 2022

A brief history of Folk-funk

A shorter version of this article is featured on Stamp The Wax

Folk-funk

Is it a genre invented by crate diggers in the early ’90s desperate to find a hidden break or sample, or was it actually dreamed up by ’60s record company types trying to define a new sound?

I have to be honest, I am not sure if I can put a finger on it. A few people more fluent and knowledgeable than myself have tried, but I’ll give it a go…

The earliest example of ‘folk-funk’ found to describe something in a musical context is within the pages of a 1967 edition of The Democrat and Chronicle newspaper (Rochester, New York). In that publication you’ll find an article about the ‘The Kingston Trio’ (a US folk group formed in 1957) penned by Chuck Boller – “Some of us remembered how it began – how the Trio broke into college campuses across the land in the late 1950s, spearheading a folk music revival that (has) since been dominated by ‘folk-funk’ types.” How does that help me explain what ‘folk-funk’ is, well it doesn’t, but it shows the use of the term pre-dating the adoption of it in the early ’90s.

The Kingston Trio — Nick Reynolds, Bob Shane and John Stewart — appear on “The Jack Benny Program” in 1965. (NBC/NBCUniversal/Getty Images)

So that’s where the genre tag may come from but what about the sound of ‘folk-funk’? Well, something that seems to have been ignored, forgotten or largely unknown, is that the pairing of two pivotal musicians to the ‘folk-funk’ sound had already happened. Somewhere towards the end of the ’50s two young coffee bar folkies had met and become friends. Terry Callier and David Crosby both journeyed on the US folk circuit and the two troubadours quickly became friends and eventually performing together. They headed off to NYC and the Greenwich Village scene in search of a recording contract, but it seems that late ’50s America was not ready for a mixed-raced folk duo. Our loss for sure, but both go on to become pivotal influences on the ‘folk-funk’ sound.

Dylan going electric at the Newport (Rhode Island) Folk Festival in 1965 was a turning point in the history of music and in turn an obvious influence on the ‘folk-funk’ genre. This electrified folk unquestionably led to the whole California ‘folk-rock’ scene championed by the Byrds and Crosby, Stills, and Nash. Soul and folk collided too with artists like John Lucien, Richie Havens and the aforementioned Terry Callier blending these new sounds.

Another interesting progression of ‘folk-funk’ is the connection it had with performance art and poetry. Ian Wallace wrote an article in a 1967 edition of the Vancouver Sun in which he talks about the Western Supplies art show by The Mandan Company at the Bau-Xi Gallery, which featured the poet and artist Bill Bissett whose work is described as “the paradigm of the folk-funk aspects of the show”. An article featured in a 1969 edition of the San Francisco Examiner mentions Allen Ginsberg evoking the ‘folk and funk’ in his 1966 anti-war poem ‘Wichita Vortex Sutra’. We should also mention artists usually associated with Beat or jazz movements, think Gil Scott-Heron, LeRoi Jones and also the Last Poets, whose lyrical content concerning social and political issues directly influenced the content of some ‘folk-funk’ songs.

‘Sunshine Pop’ is also directly connected to ‘folk-funk’, originating in Southern California, it combined nostalgic sounds with the youth aesthetic which was evolving along with the growing drug culture, expanding not only minds but music too. Think Curt Boettcher, The Millennium, Sagittarius, and the Free Design who all sit comfortably rubbing shoulders with ‘folk-funk’. When ‘folk-rock’ blends with ‘sunshine’ we begin to stumble into something that directly influences the ‘folk-funk’ aesthetic, although as the ’60s progressed themes did become somewhat darker, ‘Morning Dew’ and ‘Woodenships’ for example, both relate to an apocalyptical post-nuclear world, picking up on the issues of the artists mentioned in the paragraph above. With other genres, including the early ’70s Christian music, which soon adopted the less religiously sounding tag Xian for the youth market, think Christmas/Xmas and Christian/Xian, was thrown into the mix. We get a fusion of folk traditions and wider musical styles giving us a hybrid sound that spread throughout the musical world.

Meanwhile, over in the UK artists such as Pentangle, Synanthesia, Fairport Convention and Donovan were starting to infuse folk into a more electric and somewhat trippy vibe. A variety of ‘folk-rock’ emerged that combined modern elements with folk tradition in a quintessentially British way. This sound started to permeate back across the Atlantic. An example of this would be Sunforest, whose performances at Doug Weston’s Troubadour in West Hollywood, USA was well received.

In July 1972 an article written by Peter Erskine appeared in an edition of the music weekly ‘Disc’ – it was a feature about John & Beverly Martyn and was titled ‘Martyn’s folk funk’. An advert in a newspaper from Kettering, Northamptonshire from September of the same year, also featuring John Martyn, was emblazoned with ‘FOLK FUNK’ as the heading. These two mentions in printed media and both connected to John Martyn seem to be the earliest to adopt the use of the term ‘folk-funk’ in the UK. Across the pond, however, and in December the same year James Taylor was also being referred to as ‘folk-funk’ in an article by Tony Palermo featured in The Pittsburgh Press – “And while Folk Funk sounds contradictory, Taylor’s managed to put together even crazier amalgams of the two than before.” In 1973 gigs were being advertised in the Happenings section of The San Francisco Examiner using the tag ‘Folk-Funk’ and a year later, in 1974, Brewer & Shipley were being described as “folk-funk” by Pete Bishop in The Pittsburgh Press. In the same year, and from the Spokane Chronicle, Washington, USA, country singer Wade Gentry mentions in an article by Dick Yost that he “expects to fly to Nashville next month to cut a second record in the style the music industry calls ‘folk funk’.”

Now let’s make an almighty leap forward to the late 1980s and the UK music scene. ‘Folk-funk’ became a new way to tag a certain sound that collectors and sample diggers were beginning to seek out. Gaining traction as a continuation to rare groove, these funkier folk sounds began being played on the club circuit. When trip-hop came along at the start of the ’90s new influences and undiscovered gems were sought. Doris Svensson, Nancy Priddy and Sunforest became the type of ‘folk-funk’ staples being given a second life and sampled for their unique drum breaks.

Bootlegs and licensed albums started to appear with ‘folk-funk’ prominent in the title or the liner notes –

Pete Reilly & Tim Hayward’s ‘The Folk Funk Experience Volume 1’ (1995).

‘The Mighty Mellow (A Folk-Funk Psychedelic Experience)‘ (1997).

Sony France put out the compilation ‘Folky & Funky’ (1997).

John Stapleton’s series of compilations on Harmless ‘Make Music (Folk Funk Flavours & Ambient Soul)’ (2002) and ‘As We Travel (Folk Funk Flavours & Ambient Soul)’ (2002), a third was compiled but not released.

We had the naked ladies of ‘Folk Funk Flavours’ (2003) compiler unknown.

Gilles Peterson’s ‘Broken Folk Funk Latin Soul’ (2003).

The Italian-released ‘Folk, Jazz & Poetry’ compiled by Matteo Sola (2003).

Andy Votel released the series ‘Folk Is Not A Four Letter Word’ (2005) and ‘Folk Is Not A Four Letter Word 2’ (2006).

Mark Pritchard’s ‘Feel The Spirit’ (Other Worldly Folk Music Gems And Psychedelics) (2006) came out on CD on the short-lived Optimum Sounds label, an off-shoot of France’s StudioCanal.

Out of Norway and compiled by Lars Mørch Finborud ‘Lukk Opp Kirkens Dører – A Selection Of Norwegian Christian Jazz, Psych, Funk & Folk 1970-1980’ (2011).

John Reed compiled the compilation ‘One Way Glass (Dancefloor Prog, Brit Jazz & Funky Folk 1968-1975)’ (2017).

So while defining a brief history of ‘folk-funk’ is not so easy, I hope I have parted the clouds to some sort of clarity to the adoption of the term at least.  
 What about the sound of ‘folk-funk’? A track deemed ‘folk-funk’ has a somewhat folky origin and feature a kick-ass groove. My favourite ‘folk-funk’ records have a funky limp, by this I mean a beat that chugs along as though it has one leg shorter than the other. Although not listed in this top 5 I would point you towards the 1968 release ‘Scarborough Fair’ by Deena Webster, and the 1969 release ‘Me & Mr Hohner’ by Bobby Darin. You will hear similarities, although one is a folk classic and the other is not the genres bend and begin to melt into each other, both definitely falling into the ‘folk-funk’ genre. 
 I’ll end with this.

On the subject of ‘folk-funk’ hidden in the depths of the verygoodplus web forum Peter Beaver once wrote: “It’s folk music with funk or jazz beats/overtones & when it’s good it’s really f**king good”.

Where does my love for folk-funk stem from?

With an eclectic taste, my musical influences are broad but I fell into ‘Folk-Funk’ directly from a love of ‘Sunshine Pop’ and the ‘Beat Generation’. I had started dropping tracks into my sets and was continually looking for more records. In 2003 I had begun playing support sets for The Polyphonic Spree on their UK tours and joined them at their ‘Annual Holiday Extravaganza’ at the Lakewood Theatre, Dallas. I would play a diverse mix of mainly sunshine pop with some folk-funk favourites thrown in. I’d begun to get bored of playing clubs and pubs and I found having to make people dance for 5 hours very repetitive and stressful, preferring the pre-band support slot to build up a crowd for the main event, and as I wasn’t the main event it took the pressure off. Not buying records specifically to play out gave me a chance to purchase more vinyl just for my own musical and selfish pleasure. 

My early musical education came listening to a lot of Love, Brian Wilson and the folk sounds of Terry Callier. A friend also introduced me to David Crosby’s masterpiece ‘If I Could Only Remember My Name’ and this changed everything. My love of ‘sunshine pop’ and the hippie dream began to morph towards a less sugary fix.

I had continually been inspired by the aforementioned verygoodplus web forum, thanks to an introduction by my friend James ‘Bodger’ Clarke. I began to hear mixes by Peter Beaver, recommendations from the likes of Towny, Sie Norfolk and a series of CD-Rs produced for the forums Xmas swaps by Ian Pakes (of the band The Lancashire Hustlers). I’d also been appreciating the soft-rock sound of the mid-’70s and started to incorporate more of that into my playlists. Then along came Loner Folk and the world of the lost Private Press. Just over 10 years ago I started pulling all these influences together and produced the first of my ‘Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours’ mixes which I began to share online using the music streaming service Mixcloud. I think this amalgamation of genres that I adopted muddied what the ‘folk-funk’ sound actually was. Although I did this purposely to widen the goalposts for my ‘Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours’ mixes, I have tried to really trim back into the essence of ‘folk-funk’ for this article.

Which ‘folk-funk’ record left the biggest impression on me?

‘Feel The Spirit’ by Heaven & Earth, ‘Taking So Long’ by Kathy Smith, ‘Mountain Song’ by Penny Nichols, and ‘Woodenships’ by Christine Harwood are all great examples of a funky groove based on a folk tradition.

Top 5 ‘folk-funk’ tracks

Magician In The Mountain by Sunforest

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Sunforest were a British folk-rock trio from the late ’60s and released just one album and one single. ‘Magician In The Mountain’ appears on the 1970 self-titled album on Deram, this Sunforest song has everything you need in a ‘folk-funk’ track. Its folky lyrics and chugging limp, mixed with a sugar cube drop of psychedelia ticks all my boxes. Two of the tracks would be re-recorded and featured on the soundtrack of Kubrick’s ‘A Clockwork Orange’.

Rainmaker by Click

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Click Horning, known as Click, was from New Hampshire, USA and grew up listening to Bob Dylan, Gordon Lightfoot, Peter Paul & Mary. In 1965, at the tender age of 17, he caught a ride to Greenwich Village to pursue a career in music. Within a week he was a staff writer for a music publisher and soon had an independent record deal with Laurie Records. ‘Rainmaker’ features on the B side of his 1967 release ‘Girl With A Mind’. It has that instantly recognisable ‘folk-funk’ groove and is an almost perfect example of how to put the funk into folk.

Father I Put My Life In Your Hands by Sister Janet Mead

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I wanted to add some diversity to this list and I have been an avid collector of Xian ‘folk-funk’ and ‘soft-rock’ for some time. So this track, written by Arnold Strals, is a perfect example. Sister Janet Mead was an Australian nun known for her pioneering use of contemporary music to get across a Christian message. Again we hear that limping beat that permeates through the whole track, with guitar licks here and there and the beautiful drop of the flute towards the end as the track just builds and builds. It was a toss-up as to which Xian track to include, this one or the mighty Kris N’ Dale’s ‘She Touched Me’ – Sister Janet came out on top.

It’s Taking So Long by Kathy Smith

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How could you have an article about ‘folk-funk’ and not mention Richie Havens? ‘It’s Taking So Long’ featured on the Kathy Smith album ‘2’ and was released in 1971 on Stormy Forest, the record label created and owned by Richie Havens. The track is augmented with keyboard licks, Jeremy Steig on flute, and a funky psychedelic overtone. Limping along getting slightly faster and faster, it bursts into a wonderful track and must have been a show stopper when performed live.

In the late ’60s, Smith was a staple around the L.A. scene, this led to a partnership with Penny Nichols. Nichols’ own track ‘Mountain Song’ narrowly missed inclusion in this 5, and is one of my all-time favourite ‘folk-funk’ tracks.

Kathy Smith, originally from California, played to an audience of 600,000 at the Isle of Wight Festival, but unfortunately due to poor marketing, neither of her albums hit commercial success. Store them next to other psych-folk gems by Linda Perhacs, Vashti Bunyan, Bonnie Dobson and Susan Christie.

Paint A Lady by Susan Christie

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Susan Christie was a singer/songwriter from Philadelphia, USA. She had a minor hit in 1966 with the folk song ‘I Love Onions’, but had several unsuccessful late ’60s single releases on Chanté Records and Columbia. By 1970 Christie, had become friends with Margo Guryan, and was offered the chance to record her own album. Music executives didn’t have the foresight to release these recordings and only a handful of promotional test copies were ever produced. Christie’s lost psychedelic-tinged folk masterpiece featuring a break heavy folk-funk rhythm section was shelved for over 30 years. Until 2006 when UK label Finders Keepers re-issued 8 tracks including this title track ‘Paint A Lady’. 

A melancholy folk song about the closing of a carnival and being left alone. This dark but funky folk song has a brooding to it, clocking in at just over 3 minutes – I always hope for more as the song fades and wish for a full folk-funk psychedelic breakdown lasting for another 4 minutes at least.

The best of folk-funk by Paul Hillery

Track listing

  • An Elephant Called Slowly by Howard Blake
  • Along Came Sam (The Morning Of The Mutations) by The Sound Of Feeling
  • You’ve Come This Way Before by Nancy Priddy
  • Woodenships by Christine Harwood
  • Rush Hour by Bugsy Maugh
  • The Loner by B.J. Ward
  • I Got Stung by Bonnie Dobson
  • Father I Put My Life In Your Hands by Sister Janet Mead
  • Rainmaker by Click Horning
  • Color Her Blue by Val Stöecklein
  • Friendship by Franciscus Henri
  • Say You’ll Be With Me by Denny Guy
  • And That’s Saying a Lot by Christine Perfect
  • Play With Fire by Barbara & Ernie
  • But Never by Maryanne Mahoney
  • Summer Wind by Kathy Stack
  • All I Dream by Estelle Levitt
  • Some Kind Of Fever (Pray For Rain) by Maxine Sellers
  • It’s Taking So Long by Kathy Smith
  • Mountain Song by Penny Nichols
  • Magician In The Mountain by Sunforest
  • Paint A Lady by Susan Christie
  • Scarborough Fair by Deena Webster
  • Feel The Spirit by Heaven & Earth
  • Take Me With You by Lyn Christopher
  • Ko Zna Reći by Jadranka
  • Det Är Svårt För Ett Ägg Att Bli En Fågel by Birgitta Yavari
  • Petis Peiu by Collage
  • The Ballad Of Ho Chi Minh by Michael Glick
  • Tennessee Voodoo by Booker T Jones
  • Sun by Gregory Paul
  • You Goin’ Miss Your Candyman by Terry Callier
  • Dweller by Marcellino & Larson
  • She Touched Me by Kris N’ Dale

My compilation ‘We Are The Children Of The Sun’ is out April 2022 on BBE records. And is a lovingly handpicked musical excursion that takes in strummed soft rock, blissful beach beats, the soft fizz of electronica, all carried to your ears by a gentle summer breeze. It ranges from hazy, long-forgotten early 70s tapes, right through to digital compositions recorded during lockdown in 2020. Tune in and ruminate while consciousness is awoken with transmissions dropping out from the fringes of psyche tranquillity, holding hands with folk-funk that runs deep and hazy, as the bejewelled turquoise waters lap gently at the ocean’s shore

https://orcd.co/childrenofthesun

This will be followed up with the release of ‘Once Again We Are The Children Of The Sun’ also on BBE records.

Paul Hillery’s curated compilation ‘Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours – Volume 1’ will be released on RE:WARM records around September 2022

A shorter version of this article featured on Stamp the Wax, in April 2022.

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All artwork on this page are owned by the artist who created them © No copyright infringement is intended – this post is for eductional uses only

January 29, 2022

Wayfarers All – bonus folk mixes

Since the first 10 compilations were finished I have continued to collate and commingle some of my favourite British music that has been toe-dipped into the village pond of UK folk. I call them Wayfarers All, a collection of British music with folk sensibilities lovingly curated by me, Paul Hillery.

They contain a few artists you don’t usually associate with folk, but just give it a whirl I think you’ll dig it.

Track listings

wayfarers all 13 cover

Wayfarers All : Volume Thirteen

  1. Moonshine / Orion
  2. Social Depression / J. Rainey
  3. Song For Every Season / Peter Franc
  4. With His Siller In His Hand / Tom Sorahan
  5. Feelings (Look Around – I Want To Feel You) / Ithaca
  6. O Caroline / Matching Mole
  7. Purbeck Hills / Nicky Hann
  8. Dance Of The Evening Midges / Gavin James
  9. Milestones / Terry Reid
  10. Thoughts / Gothic Horizon
  11. Space In Time / Keith James
  12. Angel Of The Lord / Forever More
  13. Dandelion Song / Chris Comsey
  14. In The Mud / Gary Farr
  15. Castle Sand / Brian Davison’s Every Which Way
  16. It’s Alright Now / Steve Adams
  17. What You Mean To Me / Paul Brett
  18. Only You Know And I Know / Dave Mason
  19. Man From Afghanistan / Curtiss Maldoon
wayfarers all 12 cover

Wayfarers All : Volume Twelve

  1. The Turtle Dove / The Barrow Poets
  2. In Ancient Times / People
  3. White Room Dreaming / Terry Durham
  4. Mourning Sad Morning / Free
  5. I Like To Be With You In The Sun / Bridget St. John
  6. Now If You Remember / Julie Tippetts
  7. See How The Time / Wizz Jones
  8. Things To Try / Terry Reid
  9. Road / Nick Drake
  10. Strangely Human Sound / Paul Jones
  11. Raise Your Heads To The Wind / Richmond
  12. Elaine / Norman Haines
  13. In The Square / The Pretty Things
  14. Sunny Goodge Street / Marianne Faithfull
  15. The Orphan / Ottilie Patterson
  16. Niwl y Môr / Galwad Y Mynydd
  17. Walking Round / Manfred Mann
  18. Money Love / Brian Protheroe
  19. Nature Boy / Accolade
  20. Message To Pretty / Dorris Henderson with John Renbourn

Wayfarers All : Volume Eleven

  1. Man Of The World / Fleetwood Mac
  2. Jug Of Love / Mighty Baby
  3. Washed On The Shore / Ian Strachan and Anthony Griffiths
  4. With His Siller In His Hand / Tom Sorahan
  5. The Magic Wasn’t There / Julie Covington
  6. Lisa Lån / Aled & Nia
  7. Crumbling Land / Pink Floyd
  8. What’s The Use / The Pretty Things
  9. I Really Wanted You / Steve Tilston
  10. Sentinel / Nigel Mazlyn Jones
  11. Sligo Fair / Jonathan Kelly
  12. Hotel Room / Prelude
  13. Air Mail / Hugh Featherstone Blyth
  14. Acapulco Gold / Roy Harper
  15. Good Morning Morning / David And David
  16. Crystal Telephone / Terry Durham
  17. Wolf In The Water / Storyteller
  18. Revolution Of The Season / Gary Farr
  19. Stranger / Michael Chapman

You can find the first ten in the series by following this link

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A heathen, conceivably, but not, I hope, an unenlightened one

December 24, 2021

Jesus Waves

Jesus Waves – a contemplation of Xian Yacht Rock

A selection of Christian AOR

Tracklist

  1. Love Is The Key / Tommy Coomes
  2. House On The Rock / Rob Mehl
  3. The Potter Never Rests / Bix Phillips
  4. Got To Believe / Sweet Comfort Band
  5. Love Him / James Ledlie Band
  6. Drawn To The Light / Paul Clark
  7. New Life / Stacey
  8. Take Me Closer / Phil Keaggy
  9. Fly With Me / Ray Lefevra
  10. Brother Daniel / Neil Harbus
  11. Samuel / Gerry Limpic & Mark Rayburn With Dave Pollard
  12. Loaves And Fishes / Willow
  13. Forever / Thirty Days Out
  14. Let Us Be One / Love Song
  15. Joshua / Druick & Lorange
  16. Love Like An Ocean / Face To Face
  17. Livin’ For You / Chris Christian
  18. Gotta Keep Loving You / Ben Mendoza
  19. It Doesn’t Really Matter / Mark Williamson
  20. Walls Of Glass / Russ Taff

Want more of my mixes like this one ?

Check out my other mixes  here

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July 17, 2021

Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours 100

So here is my Folk Funk and Trippy Troubadours 100. A celebration of the first 99 mixes of Folk Funk and Trippy Troubadours. Here are 5 mixes made up of some of my favourite tracks used so far…

Tracklists

To follow

Check out my tracklisting for all of my FFTT mixes; right here

Join in the fun on the Facebook group

Music Is Love

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A heathen, conceivably, but not, I hope, an unenlightened one

PAUL HILLERY

Award-winning ex-creative

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