Soul Strut 100: # 2 - 24-Carat Black - Ghetto: Misfortune???s Wealth

RAJ

I will slowly be unveiling the Top 100 Soul Strut Related Records as Voted by the Strutters Themselves.

# 2 - 24-Carat Black - Ghetto: Misfortune's Wealth



The list so far:

# 100 - Jr. and His Soulettes - Psychodelic Sounds
# 99 - Sir Joe Quarterman & Free Soul
# 98 - Donny Hathaway - S/T (1971)
# 97 - Bernard Wright - ???Nard
# 96 - Tom Scott - Honeysuckle Breeze
# 95 - People Under the Stairs - Question in the Form of an Answer
# 94 - Harlem River Drive
# 93 - Black Moon - Enta Da Stage
# 92 - Marvin Gaye - Here, My Dear
# 91 - Muddy Waters - Electric Mud
# 90 - Les McCann - Layers
# 89 - Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland
# 88 - Leroy Hutson - Hutson (1975)
# 87 - ESG - S/T (1981)
# 86 - Can - Tago Mago
# 85 - Bohannon - Stop & Go
# 84 - WILLIAM DEVAUGHN - Be Thankful For What You Got
# 83 - Power of Zeus - The Gospel According to Zeus
# 82 - Gang Starr - Hard To Earn
# 81 - The J.B.???s - Doing It to Death
# 80 - Parliament - Osmium
# 79 - McNeal & Niles - Thrust
# 78 - The Lafayette Afro Rock Band - Malik
# 77 - Earth, Wind, and Fire (1971)
# 76 - Dr. Dre - The Chronic
# 75 - Black Sabbath (1970)
# 74 - Trap Door / An International Psychedelic Mystery Mix (2006)
# 73 - Bob James - One
# 72 - Matthew Larkin Cassell - Pieces
# 71 - The Beginning Of The End - Funky Nassau
# 70 - Big Bear - Doin??? Thangs
# 69 - Steely Dan - Aja
# 68 - Quasimoto - The Unseen
# 67 - Curtis Mayfield - Curtis/Live! (1971)
# 66 - Al Green - Im still in love with you
# 65 - The Beatnuts - Street Level
# 64 - Archie Whitewater - Archie Whitewater (1970)
# 63 - Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - Mecca & the Soul Brother
# 62 - Notorious B.I.G. - Ready to Die
# 61 - The J.B.???s - Food For Thought
# 60 - Don Blackman (1982)
# 59 - Niagara - (Tiddies)
# 58 - Can - Ege Bamyasi
# 57 - Whatnauts - On the Rocks
# 56 - The Mohawks - Champ
# 55 - McDonald and Giles (1971)
# 54 - Darondo - Let My People Go
# 53 - Dorothy Ashby - Afro Harping
# 52 - Beastie Boys - Paul???s Boutique
# 51 - Mulatu Astatke - Mulatu of Ethiopia
# 50 - Lyman Woodard Organization - Saturday Night Special
# 49 - Isaac Hayes - Hot Buttered Soul
# 48 - Lyn Collins - Think (About It)
# 47 - James Brown - In The Jungle Groove
# 46 - Bill Withers - Still Bill
# 45 - Stevie Wonder - Innervisions
# 44 - Silver Apples - S/T
# 43 - Mobb Deep - The Infamous
# 42 - Lyn Christopher (1973)
# 41 - Serge Gainsbourg - Histoire de Melody Nelson
# 40 - Gang Starr - Step in the Arena
# 39 - Diamond D - Stunts, Blunts, & Hip Hop
# 38 - Terry Callier - What Color is Love
# 37 - David Axelrod - Song of Innocence
# 36 - The Invaders - Spacing Out
# 35 - Leo Sayer - Endless Flight
# 34 - Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
# 33 - DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist - Brainfreeze (Mix)
# 32 - Michael Jackson - Thriller
# 31 - DJ Shadow - Endtroducing
# 30 - De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising
# 29 - Ray Barretto - Acid
# 28 - The Sylvers - II
# 27 - Donald Byrd - Places and Spaces
# 26 - Shuggie Otis - Inspiration Information
# 25 - Nas - Illmatic
# 24 - The Baby Huey Story - The Living Legend
# 23 - Roy Ayers - He???s Coming
# 22 - Kool and the Gang (album) (1969)
# 21 - Demon Fuzz - Afreaka!
# 20 - Curtis Mayfield - Curtis!
#19 - Eugene McDaniels - Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse
# 18 - Incredible Bongo Band - Bongo Rock
# 17 - Placebo - Ball of Eyes
# 16 - Arthur Verocai - Arthur Verocai (1972)
# 15 - A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
# 14 - S.O.U.L. - What Is It
# 13 - Funkadelic - Maggot Brain
# 12 - Boscoe
# 11 - RAMP - Come Into Knowledge
# 10 - Bob James - 2 (Mardi Gras with or without the Bells)
# 9 - Syl Johnson - Is It Because I???m Black?
# 8 - The Meters - S/T (1969)
# 7 - Michael Jackson - Off the Wall
# 6 - Eddie Kendricks - People... Hold On
# 5 - Skull Snaps
# 4 - East of Underground
# 3 - Cymande (1972)

Please discuss your reactions to this record. The thread will be archived later here.

About

Classically trained Detroit arranger Dale Warren got his start with the famed Motown label and, from the late '60s throughout the early '70s, composed the majority of string scores for soul artists on Stax Records (arranging for such artists as Billy Eckstine, Eddie Floyd, Isaac Hayes, Albert King, and the Staple Singers, among others). During this time, Warren befriended an up-and-coming Cincinnati soul outfit called the Ditalians. After he convinced them to change their name to 24-Carat Black, he took them under his wing -- both composing and producing their lone album, 1973's Ghetto: Misfortune's Wealth, a conceptual work that focused on life in the inner city.

The album went unnoticed and fell through the cracks shortly thereafter, as 24-Carat Black never issued any other recordings. But over the years, Ghetto: Misfortune's Wealth became a sort of cult classic among hip-hop artists, as such acts as Heal, Young Disciples, and Digable Planets used samples from the album for their own tracks. Long out of print, Ghetto: Misfortune's Wealth was finally issued on CD in 1995. The members of 24-Carat Black would later turn up in the group Shotgun.

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/24-carat-black-mn0000482197

Related Threads

Can vs. 24 Carat Black

24 Carat Black Theme vs. Can Vitamin C

~IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY RECORD???.....~

Media

stratasphere

My gateway into raer when I started collecting.

HarveyCanal

This is #2?

Never woulda thought.

Reynaldo

The drums are kinda thin.

LaserWolf

Seems like good pressings of this are hard to find. A case where the reish is better than original? Is there a reish?

batmon

LaserWolf said:

Is there a reish?

Yeah my buddy brought the re-ish home one night and was on some Indiana Jones finding the Temple of Doom steez, back when the record was starting to get its mythical status in the 90s sometime.
I never really got into it.

parallax

HarveyCanal said:

This is #2?

Never woulda thought.

pcmr

i impulse bought this on ebay right efore x-mas with money i did not have and ended up receiving a cracked copy (karma)
the second one released by numero is great

fishmongerfunk

great record. i passed down a 5 dollar copy of this record back in the early days becasue it had a few scratches and i spent the next 15 years looking for a copy that was finally hooked up by a strutteur in 2013.

i guess it's safe to presume beandip stark is #1?

Horseleech

LaserWolf said:

Is there a reish?

There's one coming in a month or so, not sure who's doing it.

I like some aspects of this, but could never really get into it.

paren

great record. still trying to mint up.

Jonny_Paycheck

Love this record. Really important in a young youth's development, both record-related and otherwise.

I wore my original copy the fuck out. Been through two copies since, my current copy is pretty damn nice but would still love something in shrink, or a white label promo or something.

Judging by responses thusfar I might ride for this more in my private mindgarden than most but I still wouldn't have it at #2 I think. fwiw

DustedDon

Horseleech said:

LaserWolf said:

Is there a reish?

I like some aspects of this, but could never really get into it.

DustedDon

"I like some aspects of this, but could never really get into it."


agreed

tabira

worth it for Mother's Day. Goosebumps from 7:23

james

Horseleech said:

I like some aspects of this, but could never really get into it.

For a long time I gave it a pass based solely on its atmosphere and its iconography, but a couple years ago I listened to it for the first time in a long time and couldn't really feel it. And not like everything has to be all about lyrics, but shit like "The ghetto is bad / it makes people feel sad" (or whatever that line is) kinda pull me out of the experience, if you know what I mean.

My own personal ambivalence aside, I don't know about the links in that first post, but I would submit the following in lieu of all that well-aired Can v. 24CB shit:

Jonny_Paycheck said:

The 24 Karat Black - Ghetto: Misfortune???s Wealth, Curtis Mayfield - Curtis Live

If there are two records that convinced me that I wanted to do this - records, music, writing and thinking about them - all the time, for the rest of my life, it would probably be these two (and A Love Supreme). I bought a pretty worn copy of the former for a price that was almost certainly too high; I still own it. I think it was the ???Nas Is Coming??? sample that initially attracted me, but what???s kept me enthralled by it is the complete nature of the suite. The way it encompasses so many emotions, so many voices, and all played so perfectly - just an amazing record. I???m not sure I ever looked at a ???record??? like this before. It speaks to the disintegrating 70s American city, but does so in a completely bare, honest tone that avoids cliche. It changed how I thought about the concept of ???the album??? and gave me the record bug once and for all. It???s criminal that it never got its due (and was pressed so shoddily). I don???t really have a life story to connect with it, though. Curtis Live, on the other hand, was probably the single record that grew me past the malaise of college and of my teenage years (which I had since left in age but not in mind). This was a serious record - not in its conception so much as its execution. I knew about Mayfield and The Impressions, and even had a few records by them. I loved the sound. But the delivery of his message, his music, in this close setting, it wasn???t produced at all. It threw cold water on me and snapped me into focus. This was real life, and these were not just songs; Curtis was giving his audience a look into him. The one thing that gets me every time is the flub towards the end of ???We People Who Are Darker Than Blue??? where he forgets his lyric for a moment. ???He???s just good for nothing, we all figure??? ???. a grown up jigger.??? It was like he was so deep in thought he had forgotten to continue. I loved that. I had always surrounded myself with music, and felt it deeply??? but I began to think about music on a very different level because of these two records.

batmon

Funky Black Man Soul

Jonny_Paycheck

I dunno man. lyrical deficiencies aside, the ambition and scope of that record is pretty damn impressive. Who the fuck was trying to do that shit, aside from established artists like Marvin or Stevie? Shit got a lot more going for it than funky soul and breaks.

fishmongerfunk

weren't concept albums all the rage during this era? there's even a slew of jb albums where he tries (and fails miserable) to present the songs as if they were part of a suite. the difference, i think, is that this record actually does have a discernible concept that, trite as it may seem to some, actually holds together.

this is a great a great record but, again, I fail to understand how it made it so high up on the list. we def. need to do like a soulstrut other 100 or essential 100 or something to that effect.

Big_Stacks

Jonny_Paycheck said:

I dunno man. lyrical deficiencies aside, the ambition and scope of that record is pretty damn impressive. Who the fuck was trying to do that shit, aside from established artists like Marvin or Stevie? Shit got a lot more going for it than funky soul and breaks.

This LP is a favorite and definitely deserves recognition on the Soul Strut 100. "Poverty's Paradise (Parts 1 and 2)" alone are worth the price of admission.

Peace,

Big Stacks from Kakalak

Hollafame

A white whale for me, no doubt, and one of the many great LPs that SS put me on to.

skel

This record was ballast back in 88

Sealed shit to sweeten a deal


Sayin

LoopDreams

Big_Stacks said:

Jonny_Paycheck said:

I dunno man. lyrical deficiencies aside, the ambition and scope of that record is pretty damn impressive. Who the fuck was trying to do that shit, aside from established artists like Marvin or Stevie? Shit got a lot more going for it than funky soul and breaks.

This LP is a favorite and definitely deserves recognition on the Soul Strut 100. "Poverty's Paradise (Parts 1 and 2)" alone are worth the price of admission.

Peace,

Big Stacks from Kakalak

This record's

:hard_as_fuck: :goat: :hard_as_fuck: :goat:

first heard it on an nineties luv'n haight soul jazz comp w/ Leon Spencer and such I think. The thing flows from run in to run out, beautiful stuff. One of the first big pieces I ever ponied up for: 50$ in Mtl in '99, Thanks Edouardo.

Electrode

Best dead on arrival pre-bankruptcy Stax release ever. Take that, Lena Zavaroni!

Rishan

4 Men With Beards doing the re-ish. I think it's out now, saw it over on Dustygroove.

It's a great record - cover art, concept, backstory, personal digging come-ups. Not sure I love the rest as much as Poverty's Paradise and Mother's Day though

tripledouble

i love this record and got no problem with it being so high on this list. it pretty much epitomizes 90s wall of fame, which this list is, for better or worse, definitely a reflection.

i can understand the vocals getting a little contrived in some parts, but there is enough great instrumentation and feeling overall to make this a record i still listen to often.

i found this by accident in '95 (along with Ernie Hines and a grip of old Roy Ayers joints) in a Portland store where every record was $1.25. i biked over to the spot, about fifty blocks, and it started pouring halfway there. i was the only person in the store and my sneaks were saturated sponges, squishing with every step i took. the old owner guy was visibly annoyed. regardless i bought 40 records, some guesses, some not, and this was in there. definitely my first digging score, although i didnt realize i came up for several weeks. or maybe until dan from jumpjump offered to trade me something for it!

LaserWolf

I remember when you came in with it. First copy I had seen. I think the condition was too rough for me.

I did get some sealed copies later. Every copy I have had has a pressing flaw. A good portion of one side wooshes.
No one else have that problem?

badder_than_evil

I dream of one day finding this.

It gets better with every listen for me.
Worthy of its place.

SoulOnIce

The copy I had was clean and had the same noise.

Great album but one I rarely put on and played straight through. Still, not surprised to see it near the top of the SS100.

LoopDreams

LaserWolf said:

I remember when you came in with it. First copy I had seen. I think the condition was too rough for me.

I did get some sealed copies later. Every copy I have had has a pressing flaw. A good portion of one side wooshes.
No one else have that problem?

My copy plays clean without any pressing flaws, must have been one of the runs that was off

tripledouble

my copy and subsequent ones ive had over the years havent had the woosh. that first copy did have some of the "atmospheric" background noise of a vg copy, of course. ;)

dan, you should share some find stories from that spot (was it JJs?) and ripcity.