PIECES OF PEACE / PIECES OF PEACE シカゴの謎のソウル〜ファンク・グループ71年幻のLP音源発掘！祝！CALI-TEXディギン！
PIECES OF PEACE / PIECES OF PEACE (QUANNUM PROJECTS/CALI-TEX)
ディープ・ファンクの盛り上がりにより、米国人による米国本土のソウル〜R&B音源〜記録への文化的価値観はかなり高まったといっていい。LPや7インチ・シングルはもちろん、12インチ・シングルといった正式にリリースされたものから、未発表のマスター・テープ、アセテート盤といった制作側の音源、さらには貴重な写真などの数々...
否、別にディープ・ファンクの盛り上がりがあってそうなったのではなく、そういった意識の中から生まれたのが"ディープ・ファンクというひとつのムーブメント"であったのかもしれない。
閑話休題。股しても未発表音源発掘であります。やってくれたのはその界隈の首領的存在であるDANTE CARFAGNA、ROB SEVIER、そしてDJ SHADOW。まったくどこから見つけてきたんだか... まさに驚きの幻のグループ作品の登場です。その名はPIECES OF PEACE！シカゴの奥深くから今、蘇る！
収録内容
1. Cease Fire
2. Pollution
3. Flunky For Your Love
4. I Still Care
5. Peace and Blessings
6. Yesterday's Visions
7. Pollution (Instrumental)
8. Yesterday's Vision (Instrumental Alternate Take)
アーティスト写真をお見せ出来ないのがヒジョーに残念ですが、イカにもな風体のヤングメンによる7人組。ファンクばっかしかと思ってたら何と!? バラードまで歌っちゃうんです！
1971年に録音されながらも、そのままリリースされずにお蔵入りとなった幻のLP音源。当時のシカゴといったら、そりゃぁ〜もぅ、大変なこってす。そしてこの怪し毛なジャケット！
リリースはあのテキサスのこれ股、幻だったMICKEY & THE SOUL GENERATIONを発掘したSHADOWのCALI-TEXということで、資料的なライナー・ノーツにも期待であります。いやぁ〜、こんな音源が沢山眠っているアメリカ、やはり凄いです。
シカゴ・ディープ・ディギン度 ☆☆☆☆☆ | DANTE様様度 ☆☆☆☆☆ | ファンク度 ☆☆☆☆☆ | 歌物も期待度 ☆☆☆☆☆
Quannum Projects has done their homework to discover and unveil this previously unreleased 60s recording from legendary Chicago funk and soul band Pieces of Peace. The story goes that in 1971 they recorded their only LP, and got offered a Southeast Asia tour. It was on this trip, in Singapore, that Pieces of Peace disbanded and went crawling back home. Some say it was homesickness, others claim it was stress dealing with agents, but regardless the band was broken up, and their LP was shelved. That's where Quannum enters the picture, dusts off this gem of an album, and gives back a piece of music history to the world.
Although over 30 years have passed since the album was originally recorded, its remarkably refreshing on the ears. The sound is uniquely retro and contemporary at the same time. It's high energy soul music with funky dance breaks, and a rhythm that makes you want to bust a windmill on a square of cardboard while wearing an old school Adidas track suit.
Listening to the album will transform your car into a Pontiac LeMans, chest hair and gold chains will materialize out of nowhere, and a huge massive afro will manifest itself on top of your head. The jams are incredibly fluid and can engulf you, allowing your favorite early 70s imagery to float through your skull.
At first glance, i thought it was weird to give a shit about an album that came out 3 decades ago, but after listening to it, i understand the hype completely. This shit is awesome! It's like everything good about 70s Chicago funk-n-soul was fused together, and then forgotten. An injustice was done by shelving this baby for so long, and leave it to the fine folks at Quannum to right this wrong.
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A true gem of Chicago soul will be released for the first time this fall. Pieces of Peace originally recorded their debut LP for release on the Pharoahs' Scarab imprint, but it was shelved when the band broke up in the early 1970s. The self-titled Pieces of Peace album will be available September 25, 2007 (Quannum Projects/ Cali-Tex).
Pieces of Peace arose from the primordial stew of 1960s Chicago to become the band behind the Windy City soul movement. Their aesthetic merges the hard Chicago sound (heard in artists such as Barbara Acklin, the Artistics, Gene Chandler, Syl Johnson and Jackie Wilson), with the spiritual jazz-funk sound built up by the Pharaohs - binding two unique sounds linked to Chicago on one visionary recording. The Pieces of Peace album is the missing link within Black Chicago music, not to mention one of the last recordings featuring the mighty Pharaohs, who lent the talents of Derf Reklaw, Aaron Dodd and Willie Woods to the production.
The esteemed Chicago-based music researchers Dante Carfagna and Rob Sevier, along with DJ Shadow, procured the original Pieces of Peace tape, and at long last, bring this important document of soul music to be heard.