The San Francisco Bay Area’s rich musical mix produced some of the best funk and funky soul recordings of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The earthy traditions of the region’s blues and jazz scene, along with the unavoidable rock influence of the psychedelic ballrooms, created a distinctly flavoured brand of funk, most eloquently expressed by the pioneering multi-ethnic grooves of Sly & The Family Stone. Over the past decade Ace has released several CDs-worth of material recorded at Golden State Recorders. While some funk tracks slipped out on BGP comps, such as “Superfunk”, it is only since the purchase of the studio’s assets and Alec Palao’s extensive tape and archive research, that it’s clear quite how extensive Kulka’s funk recordings were. Incredibly rare funk singles by the likes of the Windjammers, Love Experience and Mel Davis will no doubt catch the eye of the hard-core collector, but this highly listenable compilation can also boast that over half its contents are unreleased, with some red-hot sounds from 87th Off Broadway, 60s soul thrush Ramona King and future Janis Joplin sideman Snooky Flowers........ 01 POOR SAD CHILD PARTS 1 & 2- The Windjammers 02 ARE YOU TOGETHER FOR THE NEW DAY?- The Love Experience 03 CAN'T GET ENOUGH- 87th Off Broadway 04 DEVIL'S GOT YOUR MIND- The San Francisco TKOs 05 HOUSE PARTY- Wally Cox & the Natives 06 I'M GLAD I GOT OVER YOU- Jeanette Jones 07 HEARING THINGS- Snooky & the Cosmic Flowers 08 I'VE GOTTA GROOVE- Julio Zavalla 09 LOVE MACHINE- Alonzo Smith 10 HERM- The San Francisco TKOs 11 SWEET TALK- Marvin Holmes & the Uptights 12 YOU'D BE GOOD FOR ME- Jeanette Jones 13 WHY- 87th Off Broadway 14 ZU ZU- Wally Cox & the Natives 15 MINI SKIRTS- Snooky & the Cosmic Flowers 16 JUST ANOTHER SMILE- Mel Davis 17 ACILADY- The San Francisco TKOs 18 SUPER CHICKEN- Ramona King 19 ROCK STEADY- Ruby Delicious 20 VIDA BLUE PART 1- Jimmy Bee
