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Early 70s RCA-Funk

disco_chedisco_che 1,115 Posts
edited April 2010 in Strut Central
Anyone knows the story behind all the great stuff that came out on RCA in the early 70s. Great recordings with the right amount of grit, great bands. Nite-Liters/New Birth, Jimmy Castor, Crown Heights Affair, Boobie Knight... Did they have a killer A&R in these years?

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  • skelskel You can't cheat karma 5,033 Posts
    Not restricted to early 70s, this is a favourite in the fusionist domain




    And the killer modern soul singalongaSouthport faves too.



    Good label. Pulse rate imperceptibly ticks up on seeing the big letters when flicking through boxes of 12s and 7s.
  • disco_chedisco_che 1,115 Posts
    Not saying RCA brought god stuff ONLY in early seventies but it's obvious to me, that in this phase they had an extraordinary output of raw funk. All the stuff sounds very related soundwise as if it has been recorded all in the same studio by the same engineers or something.
  • finelikewinefinelikewine "ONCE UPON A TIME, I HAD A VINYL." http://www.discogs.com/user/permabulker 1,416 Posts
    I guess during that period every major label had its fair share of killer funk releases...

    for example some from the top of my head

    Columbia[/b]
    Eddy Jacobs Exchange - Pull My Coat
    Willard Butron & The Funky Four - Funky In Here
    Patty Drew Hard to Handle
    Eddie Bo - Lover And A Friend

    Atlantic[/b]
    Tony Avalon & The Belairs - Sexy Coffee Pot
    Beginning Of The End - Funky Nassau
    ...endless more

    Mercury[/b]
    Gloria Bouschell - Find Yourself Another Man
    Joyce Dunn A New Change Of Address
    George Jackson - Tossin' And Turnin'
    Aaron Neville - Hercules

    Epic[/b]
    Vera Hamilton - But I Aint No More
    Johnny Otis Show - Watts Breakaway
    Joe Sherman - Fever

    Warner[/b]
    Charles Wright

    BTW the last song you posted by new birth is awesome
  • georgeibrahimgeorgeibrahim 676 Posts
    Not funky, but an excellent track on a solid RCA record:
  • disco_chedisco_che 1,115 Posts
    I guess during that period every major label had its fair share of killer funk releases...

    I know what you mean but the special thing about RCA is the cohesiveness of sound aesthetics and band selection, as if there has been somebody with a very clear perception of what raw funk has to be like and sound like. I want to know if there was somebody with a masterplan.


    BTW the last song you posted by new birth is awesome

    I like the studio version better but it has been taken off youtube due to the common majorlabel bitchery.
  • fejmelbafejmelba 1,139 Posts

    yesterday find is a true rca banger.
    b/w for some reason this 45 has a bit of a downside to us dutchies
  • disco_chedisco_che 1,115 Posts

    yesterday find is a true rca banger.
    b/w for some reason this 45 has a bit of a downside to us dutchies


    Never saw that 7". Can you upload, plaese? Did you find "Die Kette" also yesterday? Would be a funny coincidence.
  • fejmelbafejmelba 1,139 Posts


    i have die kette for a few years now.
    it just happend to be in my 45 bag from playin out yesterday. togheter with some other stuff thats in your mix.
  • disco_chedisco_che 1,115 Posts



    Thanks for the upload. Great tune, sounds very familiar but I'm not sure if it's just ressembling another well known melody or if it was compiled/mixed by someone.
    Surprisingly good while most football-related records use to be


    Have to look out for it.
  • fejmelbafejmelba 1,139 Posts
    the horns remind me a bit of vehicle by the ides of march
  • disco_chedisco_che 1,115 Posts
    the horns remind me a bit of vehicle by the ides of march

    Possibly that's the one. 10 years ago my co-habitant and DJ-partner used to play it very often.
  • Birdman9Birdman9 5,417 Posts
    I guess during that period every major label had its fair share of killer funk releases...

    I know what you mean but the special thing about RCA is the cohesiveness of sound aesthetics and band selection, as if there has been somebody with a very clear perception of what raw funk has to be like and sound like. I want to know if there was somebody with a masterplan.


    BTW the last song you posted by new birth is awesome

    I like the studio version better but it has been taken off youtube due to the common majorlabel bitchery.

    For one, weren't all the New Birth/Nite-Liters all the same players and production team? That's a lot of cohesion. Love those records.
  • DJBombjackDJBombjack Miami 1,665 Posts
    More musicians these days need to wear capes.
  • ArksArks 133 Posts
    I guess during that period every major label had its fair share of killer funk releases...

    I know what you mean but the special thing about RCA is the cohesiveness of sound aesthetics and band selection, as if there has been somebody with a very clear perception of what raw funk has to be like and sound like. I want to know if there was somebody with a masterplan.


    BTW the last song you posted by new birth is awesome

    I like the studio version better but it has been taken off youtube due to the common majorlabel bitchery.

    For one, weren't all the New Birth/Nite-Liters all the same players and production team? That's a lot of cohesion. Love those records.

    yep, was about to say - maybe Harvey Fuqua is who you're talking about
  • JazzsuckaJazzsucka 720 Posts
    Might not be the typical funk sound for the label, but it's pretty nice.

  • disco_chedisco_che 1,115 Posts


    yep, was about to say - maybe Harvey Fuqua is who you're talking about

    In case of Nite-Liters/New Birth and Boobie Knight Fuqua was the man behind. Not in case of Castor, Crown Heights Affair. Possibly all these records seem to be so cohesive because all the recordings in question have been made in NYC RCA Studios B & C and in most of the cases a certain Jim Crotty has been the recording engineer.
  • DigginDiggin 319 Posts
    Here's the full version of the RCA/Nite-Lites-Ne Birth performance, 58 min

    http://www.thirteen.org/soul/2009/04/14/november-1-1972-2/

    What happened to this project? No updates in forever... I remember O-Dub writing about it
  • fishmongerfunkfishmongerfunk 4,154 Posts

    wow. thanks for sharing!
  • BreezBreez 1,706 Posts
    More musicians these days need to wear capes.

    And the occasional diaper wouldn't hurt either.
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    Anyone knows the story behind all the great stuff that came out on RCA in the early 70s. Great recordings with the right amount of grit, great bands. Nite-Liters/New Birth, Jimmy Castor, Crown Heights Affair, Boobie Knight... Did they have a killer A&R in these years?

    I think it was Buzz Willis who was working their A&R in the black music department back then.

    It's interesting...in interviews I've seen with 1970's soul acts, if they recorded for RCA in the early part of the decade, they all complain that the label was just not set up for black music in any kind of way. Jimmy Castor (who I interviewed for Roctober), the Friends of Distinction, the Main Ingredient, even producer Harvey Fuqua (who was possibly the main person responsible for RCA's move into R&B in the first place)...all agreed that the label was no soul factory.
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts


    yep, was about to say - maybe Harvey Fuqua is who you're talking about

    In case of Nite-Liters/New Birth and Boobie Knight Fuqua was the man behind. Not in case of Castor, Crown Heights Affair. Possibly all these records seem to be so cohesive because all the recordings in question have been made in NYC RCA Studios B & C and in most of the cases a certain Jim Crotty has been the recording engineer.

    Even though they weren't funk, Fuqua was also bringing his old doo-wop buddies from the fifties to the label (Moonglows, Sonny Til & the Orioles, Shirelles) to the label, updating their styles to the soul sound.
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    I guess during that period every major label had its fair share of killer funk releases...

    for example some from the top of my head

    Columbia[/b]
    Eddy Jacobs Exchange - Pull My Coat
    Willard Butron & The Funky Four - Funky In Here
    Patty Drew Hard to Handle
    Eddie Bo - Lover And A Friend

    Atlantic[/b]
    Tony Avalon & The Belairs - Sexy Coffee Pot
    Beginning Of The End - Funky Nassau
    ...endless more

    Mercury[/b]
    Gloria Bouschell - Find Yourself Another Man
    Joyce Dunn A New Change Of Address
    George Jackson - Tossin' And Turnin'
    Aaron Neville - Hercules

    Epic[/b]
    Vera Hamilton - But I Aint No More
    Johnny Otis Show - Watts Breakaway
    Joe Sherman - Fever

    Warner[/b]
    Charles Wright


    It's also worth noting that all the major labels were starting to make massive committments to R&B...even though all these companies were releasing soul music to an extent, they basically left it to Stax/Atlantic, Motown and all the indies in the sixties...but around 1971-72 they started digging in deep with the sound.

    BTW, Willard Burton's "Funky In Here" was on Capitol, another little-noted soul label.
  • finelikewinefinelikewine "ONCE UPON A TIME, I HAD A VINYL." http://www.discogs.com/user/permabulker 1,416 Posts




    BTW, Willard Burton's "Funky In Here" was on Capitol, another little-noted soul label.

    Thanks for correcting me, my fault.

    Those were on Capitol[/b], of course:

    Willard Butron & The Funky Four - Funky In Here
    Patty Drew Hard to Handle
    Eddie Bo - Lover And A Friend
  • disco_chedisco_che 1,115 Posts
    Anyone knows the story behind all the great stuff that came out on RCA in the early 70s. Great recordings with the right amount of grit, great bands. Nite-Liters/New Birth, Jimmy Castor, Crown Heights Affair, Boobie Knight... Did they have a killer A&R in these years?

    I think it was Buzz Willis who was working their A&R in the black music department back then.

    It's interesting...in interviews I've seen with 1970's soul acts, if they recorded for RCA in the early part of the decade, they all complain that the label was just not set up for black music in any kind of way. Jimmy Castor (who I interviewed for Roctober), the Friends of Distinction, the Main Ingredient, even producer Harvey Fuqua (who was possibly the main person responsible for RCA's move into R&B in the first place)...all agreed that the label was no soul factory.




    That's what I was hoping for - first hand exclusive premium information.
    Thanks for the insight.
  • The_Hook_UpThe_Hook_Up 8,182 Posts
    Don't forget the major label slow burner funk of Bettye swann "my heart is closed for the season" probably one of the greatest dollar-binner 45s evar
  • holmesholmes 3,532 Posts
    I guess during that period every major label had its fair share of killer funk releases...

    for example some from the top of my head

    Columbia[/b]
    Eddy Jacobs Exchange - Pull My Coat

    Capitol[/b]
    Willard Butron & The Funky Four - Funky In Here
    Patty Drew Hard to Handle
    Eddie Bo - Lover And A Friend
    Bobby Williams - Boogaloo Mardi Gras

    Atlantic[/b]
    Tony Avalon & The Belairs - Sexy Coffee Pot
    Beginning Of The End - Funky Nassau
    ...endless more

    Mercury[/b]
    Gloria Bouschell - Find Yourself Another Man
    Joyce Dunn A New Change Of Address
    George Jackson - Tossin' And Turnin'
    Aaron Neville - Hercules

    Epic[/b]
    Vera Hamilton - But I Aint No More
    Johnny Otis Show - Watts Breakaway
    Joe Sherman - Fever

    Warner[/b]
    Charles Wright

    BTW the last song you posted by new birth is awesome

    A few of these were just licensed by the majors from other labels who had done the sessions.

    Harvey Fuqua definitely had a fair bit to do with some of the RCA groups, the Shirelles stuff was enlightening for me when I first found it.
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