Detroit Funk Vaults: Funk and Soul from Dave Hamilton 1968-1979

Liner Note Author: Dean Rudland.
Following 2006's Dave Hamilton's Detroit Funk: Rare and Unreleased Twisted Funk 1967-1975, this collection represents the second archaeological dig into the vaults of Detroit funk and soul producer Dave Hamilton's studio for a plethora of obscure and often unreleased recordings from an era of deeply experimental funk acts. From the very first cut, the Deacons' "A Drop in the Bucket," the scene is set for The Detroit Funk Vaults: Funk and Soul from Dave Hamilton 1968-1979 to be a hard-edged affair, always wild and often bordering on psychedelic. The songs' strutting rhythms and horns intermingle with swirling sound effects and unintentionally lo-fi production, landing in a blown-out territory equal parts groove-heavy and fried. Raw funk stompers from the Barrino Brothers and O.C. Tolbert follow suit with eerie vocal harmonies riding overdriven drums and unconventional percussion. The few instrumental tracks on the compilation are just as raw as the vocal numbers, with a seemingly hurried production aesthetic and enormous energy. Hamilton is credited as the writer for the majority of the tunes, and as producer on almost all of them. Nowhere is the production more otherworldly than on "Ghetto Stride," an instrumental credited to Hamilton himself that sounds aquatically warbly, scratchy percussion strolling alongside a psychedelic wall of soulful sounds. This track is a standout, along with the cautionary anti-drug two-parter "You Fool, You Fool" by Prophet & His Disciples. The latter is so eerily energetic it threatens to fall apart from its very start, dragging its hustling first part into an almost dubbed-out part two. The Detroit Funk Vaults isn't strictly psych-touched soul. The compilation's 22 tracks include some hard soul moments and ballads as well. A notable inclusion is "Possession," a spooky look at real love from Little Ann, whose incredible album Deep Shadows surfaced in 2009 after sitting unheard for almost 40 years in Hamilton's vaults. The song's melancholic unfinished feeling is as powerful as Little Ann's soaring, pained voice, and one of the strongest of the more straightforward moments on the comp. Hamilton never got quite as out there as producers like Lee Perry or Guy Stevens, but his slightly warped productions here always top the more conventional ones, especially the later into his career he got. The almost crystalline production of Jackie Dee's disco jam "Who" sounds demented and begs repeat listens, even if only in a "how did he get it to sound so weird??" kind of way. Though the songs are all strong and the production always colorful, the weirdest moments are the best on The Detroit Funk Vaults. ~ Fred Thomas