{"id":292,"date":"2010-02-11T18:57:44","date_gmt":"2010-02-11T23:57:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/funky16corners.lunarpages.net\/?p=292"},"modified":"2015-02-04T08:19:04","modified_gmt":"2015-02-04T13:19:04","slug":"disconot-disco-pt3-cymande-bra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/?p=292","title":{"rendered":"Disco\/Not Disco Pt3 – Cymande – Bra"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Example\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Example\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cymande<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Listen\/Download – Cymande – Bra <\/em><\/span>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Greetings all. <\/strong>
\nThe end of the week is here, and so is the final installment in the \u2018Disco\/Not Disco\u2019<\/strong> series.
\nIt\u2019s been interesting \u2013 at least for me \u2013 in that this is something that I\u2019d been wanting to do for a long time, and kept putting it off until I had enough time to give it the thought it deserved.
\nThe original intent was to present a couple of what I considered to be representative tracks from David Mancuso\u2019s<\/strong> Loft repertoire, so that those of you reading, who may not have heard of him before might go a little bit further and as they say, read up on your read ups. Check any and all of the books I mentioned: Tim Lawrence’s<\/strong> book “Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture, 1970-1979\u201d. <\/a>Lawrence\u2019s tome, along with Peter Shapiro\u2019s<\/strong> \u2018Turn the Beat Around: The Secret History of Disco\u2019<\/a> (since retitled) and Bill Brewster<\/strong> and Frank Broughton\u2019s<\/strong> \u2018Last Night a DJ Saved My Life\u2019 <\/a>for a comprehensive history of club DJs, including Mancuso and his NY scene contemporaries.
\nThe third and last song of the week is perhaps the most challenging of the three selections.
\nI\u2019ve written about Cymande<\/strong> (a band I love a lot) in this space before.
\nThough they never rose to the prominence of either Booker T & the MGs<\/strong> or Eddie Kendricks<\/strong>, Cymande did hit the charts here in the US, twice in 1973. First with \u2018The Message\u2019, a Top 20 R&B hit, and then again (and for the last time) with today\u2019s selection \u2018Bra\u2019 which hovered outside the R&B Top 50. They did make it onto the outer reaches of the Pop charts, but nothing significant, which is shame because they definitely had crossover potential.
\nEarlier I suggested that \u2018Bra\u2019 was the most challenging of this weeks selections. I don\u2019t mean to suggest that it was in any way far out, but rather that its off-center groove, with stop time interplay between the percussion and the bass, with a less than \u2018straight ahead\u2019 rhythm. It\u2019s not that I can\u2019t imagine people getting down to \u2018Bra\u2019, but it\u2019s definitely the kind of record that dancers might have to warm to, gradually, as opposed to a stereotypical floor-filler.
\nAnd therein lies the rub my friends, because that\u2019s precisely the kind of chance that Mancuso would take, i.e. pulling an LP out of the crates and dropping a track \u2013 like \u2018Bra\u2019 \u2013 that while unquestionably danceable, is as valuable a listening experience as it is for dancing.
\nCo-written by guitarist Pat Patterson<\/strong> and bassist Steve Scipio<\/strong>, \u2018Bra\u2019 does open with rhythmically unusual riff \u2013 backed up by the song\u2019s signature horn riff \u2013 but by the time the chorus comes in, the addition of a strong rhythm guitar propels the beat, rounding its sharp edges and settling into a more conventional groove. This is not to say that the tune loses any of its complexity, but rather, like any dozen James Brown records, the polyrythms are woven together so tightly that even someone with two left feet would be compelled to move.
\nThe first time I had a chance to listen to Cymande\u2019s three album discography in depth (via an old CD comp) what I got out of the experience \u2013 aside from lots of quality music \u2013 was the impression that despite the group\u2019s marginal chart success, the listening public really missed the boat. The old saw is to indicate that an artist was \u2018ahead of their time\u2019 but in the case of Cymande I wouldn\u2019t say that this was entirely true. This is how I described their music when writing about this track almost exactly three years ago:<\/p>\n

“Their music was a sophisticated mixture of American soul and funk, African pop, Latin sounds, rock and all of the various and sundry intersections of those sounds. A close listen to their first LP is like a drive through Harlem in the early 70\u2019s with your car windows down, letting snatches of Curtis Mayfield, Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder, Santana and a thousand lesser groups (woven securely into the fabric, but essentially lost to the ages) drift through the windows and into your ears.
\nThere are elements of early-70\u2019s prog-cum-stoner rock guitar, hard drums, jazzy bass and horns as well as a bedrock of polyrhythmic percussion.”<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If my approximation of their sound is accurate, the conclusion you would reach is that they were very much of their time, and looking back, it seems amazing to me that they weren\u2019t more popular. There were plenty of black acts incorporating elements of rock music into their sound, and by and large, though there are Jamaican influences (which had been popping in and out of radio playlists for much of the previous decade), they never overpower the band\u2019s funky groove. While it\u2019s understandable that a pop audience might not get too far into their sound, I\u2019m puzzled that they didn\u2019t make more inroads with the more progressive rock audience.
\nThat said, placed against the other tracks in this week\u2019s series, it\u2019s ot hard at all to see why \u2018Bra\u2019 was so popular at the Loft. Earlier this week one of the readers requested that I post a Mancuso set list, so I pulled out \u2018Love Saves the Day\u2019 an retyped the list below, which doesn\u2019t seem to represent any one night, but rather an amalgam of Loft favorites for the years 1970 to 1973. There are a fair amount of what one might consider to be \u2018obvious\u2019 dance records (James Brown, Beginning of the End, Manu Dibango*<\/strong>), a couple of less obvious tunes for the trainspotters, including jazz rock like Traffic\u2019s <\/strong>\u2018Glad\u2019 and Brian Auger and the Trinity\u2019s<\/strong> version of Eddie Harris\u2019<\/strong> soul jazz classic \u2018Listen Here\u2019, the breakbeat fave \u2018The Mexican\u2019 by Babe Ruth,<\/strong> as well as unusual (likely transitional, mood pieces) like the Beatles\u2019<\/strong> \u2018Here Comes the Sun\u2019 and Exuma\u2019s<\/strong> \u2018Exuma the Obeah Man\u2019. While there\u2019s a fair amount of info out there listing individual records as \u2018Loft favorites\u2019 I was unable to find any specific playlists from the venue\u2019s early 70s heyday.
\nInterestingly enough, Mancuso has kept some version of his Loft going (at a number of different locations) continuously (though with decreasing frequency) right on through the disco and house music eras. He still travels internationally, putting on Loft parties around the world.
\nIf reading in-depth studies of dance music culture isn\u2019t your bag, see if you can track down the 2003 documentary \u2018Maestro\u2019,<\/strong><\/a> that follows the development of New York DJ culture from Francis Grasso<\/strong> in the late 60s, all the way through to the end of the Paradise Garage (with Larry Levan<\/strong>) in 1987. It manages to touch on most of the major players, and there are lots of interviews with people that witnessed the development of DJ\/club culture while it happened.
\nI hope that this week\u2019s series has been enlightening (at least musically).
\nI\u2019m going to see if a hot shower will soothe the muscles and tendons I wore down shoveling snow.
\nHave a great weekend, and I\u2019ll see you all on Monday.<\/p>\n

Peace<\/strong><\/p>\n

Larry<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Loft \u2013 Selected Discography 1970 \u2013 1973
\nFrom \u2018Love Saves the Day\u2019 by Tim Lawrence
\nBrian Auger & the Trinity – Listen Here
\nBabe Ruth \u2013 The Mexican
\nBarrabas \u2013 Wild Safari
\nBarrabas \u2013 Woman
\nThe Beatles \u2013 Here Comes the Sun
\nBeginning of the End \u2013 Funky Nassau
\nBooker T & the MGs \u2013 Melting Pot
\nJames Brown \u2013 Get Up I Feel Like Being a Sex Machine Pt1&2
\nJames Brown \u2013 Give It Up Or Turnit a Loose
\nChakachas \u2013 Jungle Fever
\nCymande \u2013 Bra
\nManu Dibango \u2013 Soul Makossa
\nEquals \u2013 Black Skinned Blue Eyed Boys
\nExuma \u2013 Exuma the Obeah Man
\nAretha Franklin \u2013 Ain\u2019t No Way
\nAl Green \u2013 Love and Happiness
\nWillie Hutch \u2013 Brother\u2019s Gonna Work It Out
\nIntruders \u2013 I\u2019ll Always Love My Mama
\nJBs \u2013 Gimme Some More
\nEddie Kendricks \u2013 Girl You Need a Change of Mind
\nMorgana King \u2013 A Taste of Honey
\nGladys Knight & the Pips \u2013 It\u2019s Time To Go Now
\nLittle Sister \u2013 You\u2019re the One
\nCurtis Mayfield \u2013 Move On Up
\nDorothy Morrison \u2013 Rain
\nVan Morrison \u2013 Astral Weeks
\nO\u2019Jays \u2013 Love Train
\nOlatunji \u2013 Drums of Passion
\nOsibisa \u2013 Survival
\nEdwin Starr \u2013 War
\nTraffic \u2013 Glad
\nTribe \u2013 Koke
\nTroubadours du Roi Baudouin \u2013 Missa Luba
\nWar \u2013 City, Country, City
\nWar \u2013 The World Is a Ghetto<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Example\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

*The story goes that it was the NY club DJs that made Manu Dibango’s ‘Soul Makossa’ a hit before it was widely available in the US, which explains the many covers\/rip-offs of the tune that flooded the market before Atlantic released the song domestically
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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PS Head over to Iron Leg for some country rock<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

PSS Check out Paperback Rider too.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

PSSS Don’t forget to hit up Funky16Corners on Facebook<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

You can also follow Funky16Corners on Twitter <\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cymande Listen\/Download – Cymande – Bra Greetings all. The end of the week is here, and so is the final installment in the \u2018Disco\/Not Disco\u2019 series. It\u2019s been interesting \u2013 at least for me \u2013 in that this is something that I\u2019d been wanting to do for a long time, and kept putting it off […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[32,31],"tags":[163,166,164],"class_list":["post-292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-disconot-disco","category-the-loft","tag-funk","tag-funky16corners","tag-soul"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMKgo-4I","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=292"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5398,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292\/revisions\/5398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}