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establish freedom of mind...


MARK WINKELMANN dons his battered vintage Funkedelic T-Shirt for inspiration and explores the phenomena of PSYCHEDELIC SOUL.


So if you were disappointed that the so called Acid Mother’s Soul Collective didn’t have matching dance steps and harmony vocals, read on.


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HEN YOU START TO LOOK FOR THE PSYCHEDELIC IN SOUL MUSIC IT TURNS UP EVERYWHERE. BUT window dressing is useless to differentiate those just wearing the ‘in’ threads from those who were keeping it surreal, especially as on the streets of Harlem or Detroit a brightly coloured dashiki was a hard-edged political statement. This issue of authenticity is always greater in a genre where the artists were often not self-contained creative units but the vessels for


producers and songwriters. Few of us could imagine that a hard-nosed careerist like Diana Ross was genuinely moved by the plight of the illegitimate in society. But that said some of the biggest and most influential artists seemed to be wide-eyed poster boys for psychedelic journeying. Was there ever a better musical example of the psychedelic ups and downs than Sly Stone’s journey from ‘I Wanna Take You Higher’ through to the come down bummer vibes of There's A Riot Goin’ On. And if anyone has recordings of the spoof pot ads for ‘Old Marvin Red-Eye’ that were supposedly recorded in the sessions for What's Going On? then please send them in.


By the early 1970s there were plenty of soul bands who had a mellow hippie vibe that was a clear break from the juke joint sounds of the ’60s. Motown moved to the west coast and opened a subsidiary, MoWest, where many of these acoustic soul groups recorded. There's some genuinely great music but it lacks truly outrageous psychedelic moves. Similarly the psychedelic soul productions Norman Whitfield wheeled out to update The Temptations and Undisputed Truth are pretty good but not as freaky as I’d like, even with Eddie Hazel on guitar. He’s much better on Funkadelic LPs. Embodied in the person of Funkadelic’s leader George Clinton the line between psychedelic charlatan and true visionary is a fuzzy one and best avoided as a metric for the good and bad. It doesn’t matter if he was just trying to get a new gig for his barber shop soul group, his set of rules are highly useful and for the neophyte psychedelic soul here they are:


1. Establish freedom of mind 2. Freedom of ass will result


For the dedicated record searcher there are many more psychedelic gems to be found. Both poor selling major label flops and independent pressings of deep funk and rare soul 45s can be pretty freaky. Here's a beginners’ guide to some seriously psychedelic soul and funk.


Aladdin Cadet Concept, 1968


rotary connection


like Songs (rock covers, mainly Cream) or Peace (Christmas music) might suggest an element of that. All their albums are good and Hey Love is often remembered for their hit ‘Black Gold Of The Sun’ but Aladdin relies least on covers and might just be their weirdest and most out there album. Anyone who thinks soaring harmony vocals and heavy horn charts are best heard when mixed with loads of fuzzed up guitars will love this.


africa


Cadet-Concept was a sub-label of the Chess R&B, blues and soul empire that was specifically designed to tap into the emerging hippie market. Rotary Connection, who feature the vocals of a young Minnie Ripperton and wild string arrangements from Charles Stepney, are probably the gold standard for psychedelic soul. It’s never entirely clear how much this was a crude business move but albums


See what they did there? While the Dylan/ Band style doesn’t extend much beyond the Music From Big Pink style cover, Africa rehearsed in a small brown shed, so fair enough. The band members had previously been doo-wop group The Valiants and this shows in their strong vocal interaction even when the song is loose. However, come ’68, they knew something was in the air and boy did they go with it. The content leans on


44


Music From “Lil Brown” Ode, 1968


covers of pop hits rather than obscure folk or Dylan. Instead ‘Paint It, Black’, ‘Light My Fire’ and a medley of ‘Louie Louie’ and ‘Ode To Billie Joe’ are all given workouts. Every song goes through the Africa magic machine and gets transformed into an elongated trippy voodoo chant with congas and slide guitar to the fore. If their originals don't make as big an impact it’s probably because they lack the “what they hell are they doing there” factor that the covers have. Unavailable on CD.


Chris Clark socks it to ‘em (this pic) while Rotary Connection (left) and War (opposite) do a head count.


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