Jimmy Castor Bunch It's Just Begun

Some music is just so immediately full of the groove and desire to dance that anyone who doesn't or can't must be dead, if still breathing. Jimmy Castor is a master of same, and if the slightly overheated claims in the knowledgeable and appreciative liner notes for this excellent compilation making him second only to James Brown might be a bit much in cold print, the music is its own best argument for his quality. Starting with his great Latin/soul hit "Hey Leroy, Your Mama's Callin' You" and concluding with an item from his doo wop days in the '50s, "I Promise to Remember," Everything Man covers whole eras of American popular music with style and skill. The two numbers that sealed his fame and reputation into the hip-hop era are unsurprisingly here: the Latin funk monster "It's Just Begun," with one of the deepest basslines in creation and a fantastic mid-song percussion breakdown, and "Troglodyte," with its freakish, wigged-out spoken word intro.

Dean Rudland compiles a selection of 70s Funk for Back Beats. Nina Simone, Jimmy Castor, Shuggie Otis, Sly & The Family Stone and many more feature. Amazon Review by Donald E. Gilliland: If you can get past the stupid album title and the tacky cover photo, you will find the music on this compilation to be very good, over 65 minutes of fine funky soul tunes from 1968 to 1974. The closest thing to a hit on this collection is perhaps "Sing A Simple Song" by Sly & the Family Stone, but even without a bunch of hits the material on here is very high in quality, which one would expect from a volume in this dependable "Backbeats" series of collection. Even amongst the recognizable names such as Nina Simone, Esther Phillips, M.F.S.B., Shuggie Otis, and Al Kooper we are treated to some very tasty funk-infused material. I also love "Watts Breakaway" by Johnny Otis, "It's Just Begun" by Jimmy Castor (which sounds like it could be an early Earth, Wind & Fire track!),"It's Alright" by the legendary Bobby Rush, and "Afro Strut" by the Nite-Liters. Even more obscure artists such as Shay Holiday, Casey Jones, Jesse Gresham, and Kim Melvin turn out some cool songs. And I can't forget the drum work-out by Bernard Purdie on "Soul Drums". Feel the beat indeed! I have enjoyed almost all of the volumes in the "Breakbeats" series, and this is one of the better ones. Too bad about that horrible cover and the album title! But ignore all that and just listen to the music; there's plenty of truly great songs on here, ones that will surely please fans of early 1970s soul and funk.

Compiled by legendary producer Arthur Baker, ‘Breakers Revenge’ is a near-definitive collection of original Funk, Soul, Latin, Disco and Electro classic tracks from 1970-1984. // These tracks, a combination of classics and obscurities, have all since become legendary to Breakdancers everywhere. First played at South Bronx block parties, community halls and park jams in the 1970s and 80s, spun endlessly by the first three major hip-hop DJs – Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa – and found in the record crates of any DJ of note ever since. // Seminal funk and soul tracks such as Dennis Coffey’s ‘Scorpio’, The Jimmy Castor Bunch’s ‘It’s Just Begun’, James Brown’s ‘Get on the Good Foot’, The Mohawks’ ‘Champ’ sit side-by-side here with the ground-breaking, classic electro of Afrika Bambaataa’s ‘Planet Rock’, and Arthur Baker’s own definitive ‘Breaker’s Revenge.’ // Breakdancing has come a long way from its New York roots to its respected position as an art form today where, for the first time ever, it is to be featured in the Olympics held in Paris this August 2024.

Compiled by legendary producer Arthur Baker, ‘Breakers Revenge’ is a near-definitive collection of original Funk, Soul, Latin, Disco and Electro classic tracks from 1970-1984. // These tracks, a combination of classics and obscurities, have all since become legendary to Breakdancers everywhere. First played at South Bronx block parties, community halls and park jams in the 1970s and 80s, spun endlessly by the first three major hip-hop DJs – Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa – and found in the record crates of any DJ of note ever since. // Seminal funk and soul tracks such as Dennis Coffey’s ‘Scorpio’, The Jimmy Castor Bunch’s ‘It’s Just Begun’, James Brown’s ‘Get on the Good Foot’, The Mohawks’ ‘Champ’ sit side-by-side here with the ground-breaking, classic electro of Afrika Bambaataa’s ‘Planet Rock’, and Arthur Baker’s own definitive ‘Breaker’s Revenge.’ // Breakdancing has come a long way from its New York roots to its respected position as an art form today where, for the first time ever, it is to be featured in the Olympics held in Paris this August 2024.

The funk was first felt half a century ago. Bursting out of the kaleidoscope of late-sixties America, its spirit was so irrepressible, its joy so irresistible, that it transformed pop music and the world. This album is a celebration of that endless future. Of dance music with real drums, real horns, real whoops, real yelps. This is for everyone ready to feel the rhythm, feel the spirit, feel the noise, feel the funk.