Velvert Turner was apparently a friend of Jimi Hendrix's, and the Hendrix vibe on the album Velvert Turner Group is almost overpowering, right down to the fish-eye photo on the back cover. Turner's got great guitar tone and a playing style quite similar to Jimi. The songs are also similar to later-period Hendrix, circa First Rays of the New Rising Sun, but with some keyboards added. In fact, "Three O'Clock Train" starts out with a riff very close to "Izabella," then sounds more like "51st Anniversary" in the body of the tune. The really shocking thing, though, is how much Turner's voice sounds like Jimi. It's jarring, right down to the same vocal inflections. But it doesn't sound like imitation, it just sounds like they came from the same places. The songs are good, although not the equal of Hendrix's, but some of the guitar playing is great, with some good feedback and panning effects to boot. It's certainly derivative, but Jimi left so few official albums that this will be a welcome sound to Hendrix fans.

Signed by Chess, recorded, and promptly forgotten, Fugi is a great "what if" of American music. He carved a niche all his own as a sort of sinister Curtis Mayfield, albeit with the darker, druggier tones of early Funkadelic woven through his particular fantasy. The nuggets of something truly grand are here, especially in the paranoid fantasy of the title track. That song alone might be worth the price. One can only wonder what might have happened if he had gotten the attention he so richly deserved. A tragedy for sure

Black Merda was a funky rock combo with a significant debt to Jimi Hendrix, mixing fuzz-toned, psychedelic blues-rock with folky acoustic passages and contemporary late-'60s soul. Featuring guitarists Anthony and Charles Hawkins, bassist Veesee L. Veasey, and drummer Tyrone Hite, the group got its start in Mississippi but traveled to Chicago to record for Chess, issuing a self-titled debut album in 1967. The following year, they were linked to another psychedelic soul group on Chess, Fugi, and their debut album Mary, Don't Take Me on No Bad Trip; some accounts say the bands were one and the same, others list Black Merda simply as producers. Shortening their name to Mer-Da, the group returned in 1971 with Long Burn the Fire, a funkier outing for Janus that bore a likeness to early Funkadelic.

A key album in the post-Hendrix tradition of funky black rock -- and the only album ever recorded by Cleveland's Purple Image! The approach here follows nicely in the same territory worked by Funkadelic and Fugi in the early days -- a heady, fuzzed-up blend of trippy guitars, heavy rhythms, and some nice sweeter soul touches -- all in a mode that swings nicely between really messed-up tunes, and others with a lighter, more soul-based approach. Side two of the record is dominated by the great jamming track "Marching to a Different Drummer" -- easily enough to rival anything on Funkadelic's Free Your Mind album -- and other cuts include "Living In the Ghetto", "Why", "Lady", and "We Got To Pull Together"

A super tripped-out blend of rock, funk, and soul -- easily one of Buddy Miles' most mindblowing albums -- and a classic that never lets up at all! Buddy's leading the whole group on drums -- really kicking things large from behind the kit -- while the rest of the group jams in a heavy style that's got plenty of fuzzed-out guitar and jazzy horn riffs -- virtually a blueprint for countless other rock funk groups that copped Buddy's style in years to come. The drums alone are worth the price of admission -- but the whole album's so right, tight, and outta sight that it's been a favorite in our crates for years! Titles include "Train", "Let Your Lovelight Shine", "Don't Mess With Cupid", "Funky Mule", and "Wrap It Up"

In the 1950s, rock & roll started out as black music, but you wouldn't have guessed that to pick up Rolling Stone or Creem in the early '80s — by that time, rock was almost exclusively the province of skinny white guys, and black artists were only to be found on the R&B charts, as if Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Jimi Hendrix had never happened. So if there was more than a bit of novelty in the music of the BusBoys, that's not to say that what they were doing wasn't important or necessary — as one of the first African-American groups to emerge to national prominence in the new wave scene, the BusBoys were willing to embrace the contradictions and confront the stereotypes that faced black musicians playing what had come to be known as "white" music. If some of the jokes are a bit forced, they're also pretty funny, especially "There Goes the Neighborhood" ("The whites are moving in!/They'll bring their next of kin!") and "KKK" ("Gonna join the Ku Klux Klan/And play in a rock & roll band"), while the music was certainly prescient, blending straight-ahead rock & roll and old-school R&B with George Clinton-esque absurdity and harmonies and new wave synthesizer squeals at a time when Prince was just edging into similar territory (and well before Cameo dropped the B-52's-ish Alligator Woman). Meanwhile, "Minimum Wage" and "D-Day" faced universal anxieties with honesty and bitter humor, and the band plays with fire and enthusiasm throughout. Not exactly up there with Bad Brains, Minimum Wage Rock & Roll is still smart and enthusiastic rock & roll that's unafraid to take chances; too bad the BusBoys never managed another album this strong.

Georgia funk rock band Mother's Finest might appear to be only a blip on the radar screen of rock history, but not to any of the headlining bands they've stolen shows from — or any of the audiences who saw it happen. Following in the footsteps of the racially-mixed Sly & the Family Stone, Mother's Finest blended white guitarist Moses Mo and drummer B.B. "Queen" Borden with black vocalists Joyce Kennedy and Glenn Murdock, bassist Wyzard, and keyboardist Mike, for its 1976 self-titled debut album. Tracks like "Rain" and the slightly controversial "Niggazz Can't Sing Rock & Roll" made enough of a ripple to get the band out of Georgia clubs and into regional touring. The follow-up album Another Mother Further lived up to its title. The opening track was a cover of the Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting team's "Mickey's Monkey," made popular by Smokey Robinson. But the guitar riff was a blatant copy of Jimmy Page's from the Led Zeppelin song "Custard Pie," released two years earlier. Perhaps because the song was a cover, or the fact that they stole from blues legends early in their career, Led Zeppelin never sued and the track (along with others like "Piece of the Rock" and "Hard Rock Lover") helped make Another Mother Further the group's springboard.

Demon Fuzz

The Chains and Black Exhaust Bootleg comp is basically exactly what you are looking for too if you can find it. I'd imagine its not super easy to get anymore.

A fantastic record -- one of Birdsong's rare early ones, with a messed-up approach to funk that he rarely matched again! The album was cut at the time Birdsong was working with Roy Ayers -- but it was produced by Birdsong himself, and he also handled all the keyboards on the set. The group's a stripped-down combo, without the slicker sound of some of his later work -- and there's a fuzzy funk approach to most of the best tracks, with lots of guitar and bass. Titles include "If I Ever", "Any Color", "Rising Sign (Funky)", "Flow Through My Heart", "Turn Around Hate (Communicate)", "I Love You Michelle", "Tune From Callicoon", and "Last Exit Before The Toll".

A massively tripped-out set of guitar-based funk -- played to perfection by the legendary Eddie Hazel, best known for his work in the George Clinton P-Funk empire! The album offers a different side of Eddie's talents -- one that's produced with a smoothly compressed California groove, in a mode that's almost an extension of some of the themes explored by Shuggie Otis on his own 70s albums -- taken with a bit more of a P-Funk style. George Clinton produced the set with Eddie -- and the tunes have a nice slow-stepping groove that really opens up the guitar solos wonderfully. The record kicks off with a massive cover of "California Dreamin" -- but the whole thing's great, with a wonderfully unified feel throughout! Other titles include "Frantic Moment", "What About It?", "So Goes The Story", "Physical Love", and a great cover of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)".

The Midnight Movers “Truckin’” consists of rare and unreleased masters that have not been available for over 30 years. Leader George Patterson first strengthened his chops as an ensemble player with the Chess House Band, which included drummer Maurice White who later formed Earth, Wind, and Fire. He then formed The Movers as a backup band for the penultimate soul-shouter Wilson Pickett, whose hit “I’m a Midnight Mover” served as the inspiration for the group’s name. Most of these recordings date to the group’s tenure in New York in the late 60s, when they alternated between Road Work for the Wicked One and as the house band for the Isley Brothers Tee-Neck records, where they laid down the tracks for the legendary hit “It’s Your Thing.”

Bonus points if it's in the BMG/yourmusic.com catalog. Thanks, gang.

So I bought Maggot Brain from Funkadelic this weekend, and I can't shake it. I'm looking to pick up some more stuff that basically boils down to black dudes playing rock and roll from around the late 60s to mid-70s—that area sorta between Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone. This may be too narrowly defined, but it's worth a shot.

And I can't personally vouch for this last one but have heard great things and this thread reminded me that I've been meaning to pick this up for over a year so I now have it on order.

Midnight Movers "Truckin"

[img][300:300]http://www.tuffcity.com/Images/albcovers/4099.jpg[/img]



That wouldn't make it necessarily sound like its black rock but I've seen it on other lists of black rock classics.

A landmark album of crossover funk -- fuzzed out rock, soul, and jazzy licks all coming into play together -- held totally tight by drummer Buddy Miles, the undisputed king of his scene! Buddy's drums are super-heavy -- holding down his Freedom Express group with a heavy jazz-rock sound that would soon have a huge influence on other groups. Includes Buddy's original version of "Them Changes" -- a tune that was instantly covered by everyone at the time -- plus the cuts "Memphis Train", "Your Feeling Is Mine", "Dreams", and "Down By The River". One for the Fillmore crowd!

it's a white chick singer

Could she let it rip or what? Ruth Copeland was born in England and became the first white artist signed to Holland-Dozier-Holland's Invictus label. These sessions represent her first two albums for the label, both released in 1971: I Am What I Am and Self Portrait. Her singing is also omnipresent on the first Parliament album Osmium. These sides are a remastered reissue of the two out of print albums called Deep Beats in 1997. This is splendidly wide-ranging stuff, from folk and pop to hard, sexual funk. The backing of Parliament and other members of the George Clinton & the P-Funk All-Stars certainly help here. Gimme Shelter: The Invictus Sessions is absolutely necessary.

She also struck up an unlikely partnership with George Clinton and became a massively influential force on Parliament's debut album, 1971's Osmium. Not only did she co-produce the sessions, she also wrote what remain two of the most bizarre (and decidedly unfunky) songs in that band's entire repertoire, the haunting "Little Old Country Boy" and "The Silent Boatman." Two further songs, "Come In Out of the Rain" (co-written with Clinton) and "Breakdown" (with Clinton and Clyde Wilson) appeared as Parliament singles in 1971 and 1972.

Copeland's partnership with Clinton naturally flowed into her solo career. Viewed today as a virtual twin of Osmium, her Self Portrait debut featured contributions from Eddie Hazel, Lucius Ross, Bernie Worrell, Billy "Bass" Nelson, Tiki Fulwood, and Clinton himself, while the co-writes included a new version of the epic "The Silent Boatman.

Late 1971 brought the release of Copeland's second album, I Am What I Am, recorded with many of the same musicians as its predecessor, only now they were her own band. In an odd twist, Hazell, Worrell, Fulwood, and Nelson had all quit Parliament/Funkadelic, but remained together to back Copeland, first in the studio and then on tour as she promoted the album. The tour was a success; the shows were solid and the audiences receptive. Unfortunately, Copeland quickly found herself in an uncomfortable position. Touring as support to Sly Stone, she took to introducing her band as Funkadelic — much to the headliner's annoyance. The last straw came when she allowed the band to take one of her encores. Stone insisted she either leave the tour or lose the band. She lost the band.

Following her solo success in 1971 and 1972, Copeland faded from the spotlight. She would re-emerge briefly in 1976 with her third album, Take Me to Baltimore, but it did little and she once more retreated into shadow.

An exuberant mid-'70s funk group, Graham Central Station made some fine singles for Warner Bros. Former Sly & The Family Stone bassist Larry Graham renamed Hot Chocolate (not the British group) Graham Central Station after he moved from producing the group to playing with it. The group included Graham, guitarist David Vega, keyboardists Robert Sam and Hershall Kennedy, percussionist Patrice Banks, and drummer Willie Sparks. They utilized the identical funk cum rock and soul formula of Sly, though in not quite as imaginative a fashion. Their debut single, "Can You Handle It," reached number nine on the R&B charts, and they landed a number one record in 1975 with "Your Love." They recorded as Graham Central Station from 1974 to 1977, then as Larry Graham & Graham Central Station in 1978, and during their final year were called Larry Graham with Graham Central

The brainchild of session musician Martin Dumas Jr., Rasputin's Stash was a '70s soul/funk ensemble from the Windy City of Chicago, IL. In the early '70s, Dumas assembled an eight-piece group out of fellow session regulars from the city. Signed early on to the Cotillion label, the group released a self-titled album in 1971 and gradually lost half of their members by the time they recorded their second album for Gemigo, a subsidiary of Curtis Mayfield's Curtom imprint. The quartet -- Dumas, Ernest Frank Donaldson, Bruce Butler, and Paul Coleman -- shed the possessive of their band name for another self-titled album, released in 1974. Gemigo eventually went under, and the group was shifted over to Curtom proper for a pair of singles released in the latter part of the decade: "Dance With Me" was released as r-Stash in 1977, and "Booty March" was released as Stash the year following. In a distribution switch that saw Curtom move from Warner Bros. to RSO, the label's roster was gutted and Stash was one of the victims. After that, the group opted to quit, but not before they did plenty of shows in New York and their hometown, where they were most appreciated. Throughout the years, Rasputin's Stash and all its following incarnations endured as rare groove favorites. In 2000, the U.K.-based Sequel label issued The Devil Made Me Do It, a CD compilation of the group's Gemigo material, including several unreleased cuts that were intended for their third album.

Once one of the most visible and winning jazz vibraphonists of the 1960s, then an R&B bandleader in the 1970s and '80s, Roy Ayers' reputation s now that of one of the prophets of acid jazz, a man decades ahead of his time. A tune like 1972's "Move to Groove" by the Roy Ayers Ubiquity has a crackling backbeat that serves as the prototype for the shuffling hip-hop groove that became, shall we say, ubiquitous on acid jazz records; and his relaxed 1976 song "Everybody Loves the Sunshine" has been frequently sampled. Yet Ayers' own playing has always been rooted in hard bop: crisp, lyrical, rhythmically resilient. His own reaction to being canonized by the hip-hop crowd as the "Icon Man" is tempered with the detachment of a survivor in a rough business. "I'm having fun laughing with it," he has said. "I don't mind what they call me, that's what people do in this industry."

Growing up in a musical family -- his father played trombone, his mother taught him the piano -- the five-year-old Ayers was given a set of vibe mallets by Lionel Hampton, but didn't start on the instrument until he was 17. He got involved in the West Coast jazz scene in his early 20s, recording with Curtis Amy (1962), Jack Wilson (1963-1967), and the Gerald Wilson Orchestra (1965-1966); and playing with Teddy Edwards, Chico Hamilton, Hampton Hawes and Phineas Newborn. A session with Herbie Mann at the Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach led to a four-year gig with the versatile flutist (1966-1970), an experience that gave Ayers tremendous exposure and opened his ears to styles of music other than the bebop that he had grown up with.

After being featured prominently on Mann's hit Memphis Underground album and recording three solo albums for Atlantic under Mann's supervision, Ayers left the group in 1970 to form the Roy Ayers Ubiquity, which recorded several albums for Polydor and featured such players as Sonny Fortune, Billy Cobham, Omar Hakim, and Alphonse Mouzon. An R&B-jazz-rock band influenced by electric Miles Davis and the Herbie Hancock Sextet at first, the Ubiquity gradually shed its jazz component in favor of R&B/funk and disco. Though Ayers' pop records were commercially successful, with several charted singles on the R&B charts for Polydor and Columbia, they became increasingly, perhaps correspondingly, devoid of musical interest.

In the 1980s, besides leading his bands and recording, Ayers collaborated with Nigerian musician Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, formed Uno Melodic Records, and produced and/or co-wrote several recordings for various artists. As the merger of hip-hop and jazz took hold in the early '90s, Ayers made a guest appearance on Guru's seminal Jazzmatazz album in 1993 and played at New York clubs with Guru and Donald Byrd. Though most of his solo records had been out of print for years, Verve issued a two-CD anthology of his work with Ubiquity and the first U.S. release of a live gig at the 1972 Montreux Jazz Festival; the latter finds the group playing excellent straight-ahead jazz, as well as jazz-rock and R&B.

Signed to Satellite in 1959, before it became Stax, Rufus Thomas could be counted on to provide some of the hardest, unabashedly southern music in the history of the label. Big hits like 1964's "Walking the Dog" and 1970's classic "Do the Funky Chicken" all but helped typify the quirky and potent Stax sound. As his label was going through many reconfigurations and styles in the early 70's Thomas didn't change too much and continued to do up-tempo tracks with a suitably updated production. This 1971 album offers prime Thomas having great chemistry with the members of Isaac Hayes' band of the time. "(Do the Push) and Pull (Part 1 & 2)" has Michael Toles' lazy, country styled guitar riffs and the steady rhythm section of bassist James Alexander and drummer Willie Hall. The other hit singles, "The Breakdown Part 1 and II" and "Do the Funky Penguin Part I and II have Charles Pitts' humorous guitar effects that helped to make the songs even more kinetic. On the track Thomas manages to pose the album's title question not once but twelve times. The last song recorded from the sessions, Thomas's ode to gambling "6-3-8" has sneaky horn charts and a booming bassline. A warbled cover of the standard "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons" is the only dud here. Although a few disposable tracks weighs down the effort, Did You Heard Me? more often than not has Thomas on his game.

That reminds me. I just picked up

Ruth Copeland "Gimme Shelter: The Invictus Sessions" this weekend

i couldn't tell from your post if you know this or not, but Ruth Copeland was the lead singer of Ten Wheel Drive.