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Country Funk III: 1975-1982
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Barnes and Noble
Country Funk III: 1975-1982
Current price: $19.99
Barnes and Noble
Country Funk III: 1975-1982
Current price: $19.99
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Size: CD
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Conventional wisdom has it that there's a sharp divide between white and Black culture in the American South, but music fans know that ain't necessarily so. Country and rhythm & blues are both steeped in similar blues and gospel traditions, and not only did a lot of country folks like to dance to a funky jam every once in a while, a lot of the same Southern studio cats played on both kinds of records.
,
and
gave the place on the Venn diagram where the two styles overlapped a name with 2012's
, a fine compilation they curated for
. Seven years after a second volume appeared,
has brought us
, with
drawing up the track list. This volume digs deep enough into the 1970s that disco rather than funk is the real calling card of many of these tunes, but thankfully most have a deep groove that's not as stiff and an easier hip-shake than most production-line disco of the era. The easygoing sway of "Shake the Dust" by
, the cool but emphatic seduction of "One and Only One" by
, and the party-hearty mood of "I Got the Fever" by
certainly put them ahead of most of what passed for mainstream dance music in that era. Elsewhere,
is looking for good times on "Sure Thing,"
has a truly superior alien abduction story on "Oliver Swan,"
reaffirms his status as Nashville's leading love man on "Night Fires," and
reliably delivers swampy rhythms and funny lyrics on "Rhythm & Blues." The fact
, and
are all represented with superior cuts should surprise no one (
's is even previously unreleased), but the relatively unsung
delivers a stunner with "Rich Man," a more cynical sibling to
's "Fancy," and if
's "Get It Up" can't fill up your dance floor, your guests have fallen asleep.
is less revelatory than the original, since
's crate diggers thoroughly established that this oft-ignored crossover exists, but if you want to check out what happens when Nashville and Memphis decide to get together to have some fun, this album will send you to the land of the twangy good groove. ~ Mark Deming