Sugarman Three & Co. Pure Cane Sugar
Boogaloo Funk. I said FUNK!!! This is another outstanding album from the Sugarman Three. This quartet features a classic Soul Jazz/Boogaloo lineup of Sax/Hammond/Guitar/Drums (basslines are provided by the Hammond). Their music is influenced by pop funksters such as James Brown, the Village Callers, and the Meters, as well as Booglaoo and Soul-Jazz Hammond funksters like Big John Patton, Brother Jack McDuff, and Jimmy Smith at his best. This release is even broader then their previous albums on Desco (Sugar's Boogaloo and Soul Donkey), which were jazzier but still very, very funky. This album adds vocalists on some tracks, as well as a healthy influence of Afro-groove and the Blues. Even though they are recreating music from the golden era of funk (1967-1973) the songs are very original and fresh sounding. This is only the second release from Daptone records, but again they've created a heavy funk masterpiece with a hard lo-fi analogue sound. This release gets my highest recommendation: Stick it in the CD player, glue the door shut, and play all tracks at maximum volume until your ears are ringing with analog reverb!!!
1) **Rising and falling horns over funky guitar pickin' with some heavy drum breaks
2) *"Uhhhh!!" Up-tempo southern funk with lo-fi vocals from Charles Bradley.
3) **Slower but with a hard, hard rhythm section grinding out the beat with afro-groove flavored horns.
4) **Up-tempo boogaloo with testifyin' vocals from soul brother number two, Mr. Lee Fields
5) *Down-tempo soul jazz ballad featuring drums and breaks from Pretty Purdie
6) **Up-tempo wah-ing guitar with scratchy vocals from Naomi Davis.
7) **Classic boogaloo bounce
8) **Party boogaloo
9) *Bluesy mid-tempo groove.
10) **Syncopated down-tempo afro-groove
11) **Slow, hard, and bluesy, featuring clavinet and boozy horns, ends early. Weird little tape rewinding sound effect at the end of the track.
Tom Purcell, November 2002