SYL JOHNSON / THE NUMERO GROUP

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  • HorseleechHorseleech 3,830 Posts
    Syl is still great live, something I learned courtesy of Numero's Eccentric Soul Review earlier this year.

    Definitely check him if you have a chance.

  • Nothing to add than I would like to encourage everyone to go and purchase more of the TNG releases - the service they provide us all as music lovers is priceless and we are fortunate to have them around. Please to continue to support - TNG thanks for enriching my life countless times.

  • CosmoCosmo 9,768 Posts
    Word man and not for nothing, even if it means to keep this TNG love-fest going, just on them putting out that Catherine Howe they done did it for me, man...

  • The only things that are Syl related that I have disappointed with are...

    1. 'I'm Talking About Freedom' was never released on 45.

    2. Who ever did this remix needs to be shot, stoned and hung.

    Syl Johnson - I'm Talking About Freedom' (Uppermost Remix) by uppermost

  • my box set just came in an hour ago with the 45
    absolutely killer job! a must buy for any of yall that haven't ordered this yet.

  • CosmoCosmo 9,768 Posts
    Damn, I created this thread and completely blanked on the fact that I did not place my order. Thanks for the reminder dude... Order placed - I can't wait for my set!

  • Mine came in today! havent been this excited about a new release in some time! Yes!

  • holmesholmes 3,532 Posts
    come on postman........

  • edulusedulus 421 Posts
    uh, so i got mine yesterday, and um there was one of the good god funk lps in a paper sleeve in there. so did anyone get the matching other? i got side a and b.

  • marumaru 1,450 Posts
    edulus said:
    uh, so i got mine yesterday, and um there was one of the good god funk lps in a paper sleeve in there. so did anyone get the matching other? i got side a and b.

    i got side c & d

  • A&B here...I wonder if some people just got the sleeves?

  • I got sides A & B, too. No clue.

  • holmesholmes 3,532 Posts
    extra/excess (possibly flawed copies?.... are the sides mis-labeled or something?) used as packing material? Maybe use it as a sampler, if you don't have the Good God sets use this as a taster to then order because they are worthwhile too.

  • rawmanrawman 16 Posts
    Does the box still come with the 7" if I were to order from the Numero web site today?

    Also, do their prices include shipping?

  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    I just wanted to throw this out there for general thought but I'm reading over the liners for the SJ box-set (which are staggering in their detail, even beyond expectation) and there's the claim made that "Is It Because I'm Black" "can rightly be called the first black concept album."

    Much as I think this album is incredible, I gotta say; this just doesn't strike me as even being arguably true. After all, couldn't everything from "Brer Soul" by Melvin Van Peebles to Jimi's "Electric Ladyland", even Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" all be considered "concept albums" that precede Syl's LP?

  • bull_oxbull_ox 5,056 Posts
    mannybolone said:
    I just wanted to throw this out there for general thought but I'm reading over the liners for the SJ box-set (which are staggering in their detail, even beyond expectation) and there's the claim made that "Is It Because I'm Black" "can rightly be called the first black concept album."

    Much as I think this album is incredible, I gotta say; this just doesn't strike me as even being arguably true. After all, couldn't everything from "Brer Soul" by Melvin Van Peebles to Jimi's "Electric Ladyland", even Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" all be considered "concept albums" that precede Syl's LP?

    Hm, you've got a point there. Could they have gotten away with the "first R&B concept album"?

  • holmesholmes 3,532 Posts
    are they differentiating between "black" as the subject of the concept or "black" as the performers of the concept?

  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    bull_ox said:
    mannybolone said:
    I just wanted to throw this out there for general thought but I'm reading over the liners for the SJ box-set (which are staggering in their detail, even beyond expectation) and there's the claim made that "Is It Because I'm Black" "can rightly be called the first black concept album."

    Much as I think this album is incredible, I gotta say; this just doesn't strike me as even being arguably true. After all, couldn't everything from "Brer Soul" by Melvin Van Peebles to Jimi's "Electric Ladyland", even Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" all be considered "concept albums" that precede Syl's LP?

    Hm, you've got a point there. Could they have gotten away with the "first R&B concept album"?

    Yeah, I think you'd have a much stronger argument there. I'm wracking my head trying to think of other R&B concept albums that could have been around in 1969...

  • TNGTNG 234 Posts
    We're using black in a more general sense here, leaning heavier on the political undercurrents running through soul and R&B. A lot of time was spent pondering and researching this concept, and no other album came even close in 1969.

    For those wondering about the mysterious LP included in the preorder:

    The initial pressing of Born Again Funk sides A/B has a minor defect. We weren't comfortable letting it out into the world, so we had a new batch pressed, set the bad ones off to the side, and then waited to figure out what to do with 1100 LPs. When the storage space started getting tight this summer with all the Ebirac records, we decided to insert them into the packages as a tease.

    If you like A/B, you'll love the rest.

  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    TNG said:
    We're using black in a more general sense here, leaning heavier on the political undercurrents running through soul and R&B. A lot of time was spent pondering and researching this concept, and no other album came even close in 1969. .

    Thanks for chiming in here.

    As noted above, if the claim is that Syl's LP preceded any other explicitly political R&B album, I think there's a solid case to be made there and it certainly challenges the conventional wisdom that Gaye was the first to go there. But if we really are talking about 'black in a more general sense' (i.e. outside of R&B), then I think you'd have several contenders for a pre-1970, black concept album, including the three I noted above, plus the "Last Poets" debut album on Douglas 3 (1969). Again, none of these are ostensibly "soul" albums however (though, knowing Melvin Van Peebles, he'd argue "Brer Soul" was).

    I'm just being nitpicky about this; not a big deal at all but the claim did jump out at me when I read it

  • faux_rillzfaux_rillz 14,343 Posts
    mannybolone said:
    TNG said:
    We're using black in a more general sense here, leaning heavier on the political undercurrents running through soul and R&B. A lot of time was spent pondering and researching this concept, and no other album came even close in 1969. .

    Thanks for chiming in here.

    As noted above, if the claim is that Syl's LP preceded any other explicitly political R&B album, I think there's a solid case to be made there and it certainly challenges the conventional wisdom that Gaye was the first to go there. But if we really are talking about 'black in a more general sense' (i.e. outside of R&B), then I think you'd have several contenders for a pre-1970, black concept album, including the three I noted above, plus the "Last Poets" debut album on Douglas 3 (1969). Again, none of these are ostensibly "soul" albums however (though, knowing Melvin Van Peebles, he'd argue "Brer Soul" was).

    I'm just being nitpicky about this; not a big deal at all but the claim did jump out at me when I read it

    Lots of pre-1970s jazz entries--Max Roach's We Insist! Freedom Now Suite was released a decade earlier, for example. In fact, I recall reading that Marvin Gaye credited a number of jazz artists as his inspiration to do a conceptual song cycle in What's Going On.

  • holmesholmes 3,532 Posts
    The Syl box arrived today & is beyond awesome.

  • ok, so is there any consensus (and weblink) to where and which numero group joints i should take a splash on?
    definitely feel i need to grab Syl and 24 karat...
    what third release should i get to round out my order?

    thanks, t

  • bull_oxbull_ox 5,056 Posts
    I just got the Pisces LP (which is all exclusive material AFAIK) and on the first 3 listens it was very cool and something I think you'd get down with, triple


  • ok...i was being kinda ignorant and just skimmed the thread at first....so i went back and reread all the recommendations.

    pisces does sound like a winner. thanks bllox. and 24 karat and the syl. ima get my order on.
    whats catherine howe allabout?

    whats WEE like? soul? sweet? i saw that record once in a cleveland basement but it was off limits and headed to toronto.

  • ok apologies again for being so lazy. the numero website is pretty comprehensive even for a bonehead like me.

  • CosmoCosmo 9,768 Posts
    tripledouble said:
    ok...i was being kinda ignorant and just skimmed the thread at first....so i went back and reread all the recommendations.

    pisces does sound like a winner. thanks bllox. and 24 karat and the syl. ima get my order on.
    whats catherine howe allabout?

    whats WEE like? soul? sweet? i saw that record once in a cleveland basement but it was off limits and headed to toronto.

    Catherine Howe is great, dude. RIght up your alley. I lead off my "Still Good" mix with one of her songs.

    By the way.


  • cos, ima probably get to c.howe eventually. for now, im basking in the wonderful sounds of Pisces.
    first side is off the fucking charts superb. second side a little spottier, but overall im thrilled. havent even begun to digest Syl and 24karat.

    i didnt get the bonus Aside/bside insert, but i gotta say i felt like i placed my order and the box hit my doorstep hours later. obviously i dont have the firmest handle on time, but shipping/service was amazing.

    and TNG presentation and packaging of their product is beyond expectations. dope
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