Reality Will Cause Your Fantasies to Die
doomsdayer520 | Pennsylvania | 03/01/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Here's the ultimate "whatever happened to..." cult act for fans of the super heavy funk. Black Merda was a powerful funk-rock band who released a couple of forgotten albums back in the early 70s and then disappeared. Apparently they've enjoyed a limited but knowledgeable cult following, and someone finally decided to create this reissue package, which fully reproduces the albums Black Merda (1970) and Long Burn the Fire (1972). This band, along with this CD reissue, will be of great historical interest to all fans of early funk and the mostly forgotten black rock of the era. Black Merda' s sound can certainly be compared to early Funkadelic, and also to late-period Jimi Hendrix. They also had more of a classic soul feel than either of those, plus some surprising elements from acoustic folk rock. This wide and astonishing variety in the Black Merda sound can be heard in tracks like the Hendrixian guitar crusher "Cynthy-Ruth," the acoustic lullaby "Think of Me," the dramatic heavy soul ballads "For You" and "My Mistake," the psychedelic funk atmospheres of "Windsong" and "We Made Up," and the gutwrenching urban soul dramas "The Folks From Mother's Mixer" and "Lying." The original sound production (as reproduced here) is not very strong, but you surely get the feeling that Black Merda was infinitely more powerful as a live act. They also benefited strongly from skillful Temptations-like vocals and very strong lyrics about ghetto life and civil rights. Recently, the surviving members of Black Merda reunited for the benefit of their ongoing cult following, and they can count me in. [~doomsdayer520~]"
Superb Rock Music
Abey Grey | 07/05/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This music is trippy. Black Merda have a distinctive style that I have never like before; everyone seems to compare them to Hendrix or Parliament/Funkadelic and maybe the reason for that is because of the colour of their skin but I dont really want to get to that.Listening to Over and Over (which is my favourite track on the cd) makes you just want to get up and grab your wife, girlfriend whatever and make love to her in a way that she has never been done before and surprise surprise that track is nowhere near a love song;infact it is a bluesy funky rythmic flame that makes you want more and more! Now each track has a special feel to it, the guys are great, the band is tight and edgy and they dont sing about mushy mushy love i wanna have fun lets go to the beach man; this s@#T is real; their lyrics are insightful, and make you think. I dont understand how or why they never got the credit that they deserve but they trully rock!Buy this album now and I assure you that you will keep playing it for a long time."
Before funkadelic and after hendrix
Sherance Brothers | Jasper Ala | 08/22/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"too bad these mugs did'nt blow up good music straight psychedelic rock funkadelic got over mainly because george clinton was always thinking ahead of the rest and really while black merda was good unlike george theywere'nt willing to experiment with other things beyond rock if you support black music from a rock perpective cop this."
Track Listings (19) - Disc #1