Sultans Of Soul, The

The Sultans of Soul
Reviewed by Sadie O., 7/1/12
60s/70s Funk/Soul from Phoenix and LA, produced by Hadley Murrell (see also “Soul Side of the Street”). A few cuts make me want to strangle kittens, but the good stuff is great. No FCCs detected.
1. 3:37 ****fine Disco-Funk with sounds of people psrtying. Big bass sound, should have been a massive hit in the 70’s…
2. 2:34 ****upbeat soul strut, lyrics enumerate a girl’s qualities. Dat’s real nice.
3. 2:44 ****dramatic intro, slow 3/4 time soul ballad, kind of bad tape quality but sweet vocal harmonies. Long-ass fade.
4. 3:51 piano and strings, way too generic, extremely slow… Nice singing, but this is exactly the sort of thing I can’t stand…
5. 3:53 ***bassline, then guitar, drums. Upbeat funky shuffle, cool falsetto vocals.
6. 4:30 ****upbeat drum beat, rockin’ guitars, 70’s self-actualization lyrics. Nice grunty bass sound. Gets better as it goes along.
7. 3:33 *downbeat Barry White elevator music… It gets a star for sheer grodiness…
8. 3:13 **somewhat downbeat and downtempo, nice horn section and lead vocals but everything else is a bit dicey. This reminds me of a Friday dance at the Legion Hall in El Monte – slow dancing…
9. 3:44 *****midtempo groovy funky shuffle, growly keyboards – nice. Soulsetters rock!
10. 3:49 more Barry White elevator music. Weathers has a nice voice, but…
11. 3:09 **pure Disco, of the Gloria Gaynor variety.
12. 4:07 **downtempo Disco with wah-wah guitar, vocal chorus. I’m thinking maybe Van McCoy or something..
13. 2:56 *****wah wah guitar, downtempo extremely slinky funk groove – nice. “I likes to dance, I likes to sang”… gotta love it!
14. 3:48 **downtempo, the kind of Soul that Ed Sullivan probably favored, fine tenor singing.
15. 3:36 Barry White elevator music. Sigh…. Where’s a kitten to strangle?
16. 4:36 ****wacky! Midtempo swingy Soul, falsetto mini-drama about a girl trying to avoid being picked up on – think Flip Wilson’s Josephine.
17. 3:31 **almost generic Disco/Jazz, but some fun production gives it points. Female vocals, which are…pretty generic…
18. 4:20 Spanish guitar intro, sounds like the Copacabana after everyone left…