David Batiste & The Gladiators 'Funky Soul' (Family Groove US)
17th May 2021
David Batiste & The Gladiators
'Funky Soul Pt. 1' / 'Funky Soul Pt. 2'
(Family Groove US)
Absolute top drawer reissue from Family Groove as the 1970 über classic 'Funky Soul' from David Batiste & The Gladiators gets a legit official press taken from the OG tapes.
This is one of those funk 45s that has stood the test of time, likely never leaving the play crates of those who have an OG. It's basically perfect, super loose and raw, outrageously funky, and with such a killer arrangement that lets each element shine in its gloriousness! It's half nasty-face funk and half uplifting soul that's guaranteed to move the most stubborn dancefloor into action.
This kind of funk/soul sound is very much of its time and just can not be replicated however hard talented modern producers/bands try, it just doesn't age, forever sounding right whatever context it finds itself in. How can you quantify that? That's difficult to answer, it's just is what it is, the early 70s, the creative communities up and down the southern states, the hunger for success, indeed the struggle for success, the mastery of analog recording at this point in time, the melting pot of musicians...so many factors can produce a 'sound' that is firmly cemented to time and place, take away any key element and that sound is gone. For me, this is one of those records, a proud slice of gnarly New Awlins groove, as authentic and located as The Meters' sound ever was (David Batiste played with The Meters from 1977). It's an honest and beautifully crafted piece of funk/soul, right up there.
A 100% must-have nugget, and even if you have the OG, a backup is welcome, and indeed to let ones OG take a well-earned rest!
Buy: Juno