Great funk compliation!!
Jeffrey R. Lung | Seattle, WA United States | 02/28/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This album is great for your collection if you want a good cross section of New Orleans funk. Tracks from the Meters, Eddie Bo, Allen Toussaintm,and the Betty Harris cover of "Ride your Pony" are dynamite. If you are thinking "well why a funk compliation from New Orleans?" the answer is this is where it all started! You can listen to these songs and see where rap, hip hop, and more mainstream funk got its direction. Plus New Orleans has a sound, feel, and energy that can only be found there, and it comes through on these cuts. I guarantee this one will make your feet move! Perfect for a dance party."
If You Were Stranded....
J P Ryan | Waltham, Massachusetts United States | 11/07/2007
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Uh, as I was saying, if I was stranded on a desert island with "Voodoo Funk" was the only CD that survived whatever didaster had struck, I'd surely play it all the time. That said, I have a decent collection of funk compilations, as well as music from New Orleans. In fact, I have about half the tracks on "Voodoo Funk" on other records and compact discs. The selection is neither too obvious nor too obscure, and all the tracks range from good to classic. Yet it leaves me unsatisfied. The sound quality is a bit drab, and to hear what I mean play one of The Meters tracks included here, then the same song as it appears on the superbly remastered Meters'CDs available from Sundazed, who reissued the seminal funk band's entire catalog (that's ten CDs) back in 2000. Here they sound OK, if a bit drab. But the same tracks, from the Meters'seminal early Josie albums that were unavailable for three decades - "The Meters" (1969), "Look - Ka Py Py" (1969), "Struttin" (1970) or the superb collection Sundazed issued of non-album Josie singles and rarities, "Zony Mash" and the difference will be striking, for if you play the Sundazed disc loud you'll think the guys were playing right there in the room with you. Same thing goes for the Lee Dorsey stuff: compare the Dorsey gems here to the same tracks on the marvelous Sundazed CDs "Ride Your Pony" and "The New Lee Dorsey" (which together collect everything Dorsey and Allen Toussaint recorded during 1965 - 70 for the Amy/Sansu labels; and it is Austrailia's Raven that most recently reissued the pair's classic 1970 album for Polydor, "Yes We Can". Always a flexible yet distinctive artist, The Crescent City hitmaker's collaboration with Allen Toussaint lasted two decades, from the 'Lottie Mo' single in 1958 until Dorsey's last album, released twenty years later, and it's obvious that Toussaint was perfectly attuned to Dorsey, whose subtlety, warmth, wry humor, and love of life suffused all of his work. Toussaint and The Meters are involved in at least half the material here, and Metro includes gems such as Willie West's 'Fairchild', also included on the terrific box set just out on Rhino, "What It Is: Funky Soul and Rare Grooves". But there are strong tracks by some lesser known artists as well. Betty Harris rcorded a terrific body of work during the '60s and '70s, and with none of in print here in the States it's good to hear her terrific version of 'Ride Your Pony'. n
This is an acceptable collection, but besides the Meters catalog and Dorsey albums already discussed, one can easily find more varied, comprehensive, and better sounding and annotated collections. Check out Capitol's N.O series, with volumes devoted to producers Dave Bartholemew and Toussaint (his Minit label productions recorded during 1959 - 63). UK label Soul Jazz has a superb set of N.O. funk that has just been reissued,
and asnother Sundazed double CD set, "Get Low Down" offers 50 rare and mostly wonderful tracks, again produced by Toussaint for his Sansu imprint during 1965 - 67. If you're really serious about the 'Voodoo Funk' from New Orleans, or a broader range of great music forged in this most remarkable city, I really can't suggest that this set is the best place to start, nor is it likely to remain a favorite if you have much of a collection of either funk or indigenous New Orleans music already. If you find this cheap, however, it's an entertaining, decent if minor sampler.
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Track Listings (16) - Disc #1