Music Review: Various Artists, Country Funk II, 1967 – 1974

By Melissa Bratcher

If you’re like me, the first thing you think when you hear the name “Kenny Rogers” is “that guy sure does bring the funk.” Perhaps, though, you don’t, and honestly, I didn’t either until I heard his track (with The First Edition) “Tulsa Turnaround” on Country Funk II, 1967-1974. “Tulsa Turnaround” is a swoony slow ride about an “Omaha honey” who learned the Tulsa Turnaround from someone called “Funkybutt,” I believe. I never did learn exactly what the Tulsa Turnaround is, but I did glean this nugget of information from the song: “If a man’s gonna eat fried chicken/he’s gonna get greasy.” It’s a pretty damned amazing song, and would be great on a soundtrack for a movie where there are car chases and someone is called “Rooster.”

Country Funk II is full of songs like “Tulsa Turnaround”: songs that tread the line of gospel, soul, country, and funk, with the occasional dose of psychedelia. There are absolute treasures on this record, like Billy Swan’s spare, moody take on “Don’t Be Cruel.” Slowed down and stripped to its basics, the song becomes haunting and fascinating. It also sounds completely modern; it’s a very forward-thinking version.

In fact, there are a few songs on Country Funk II that are thoroughly current sounding (though, let’s face it, I review a lot of Americana, so it sounds current to me. Your mileage, as always, might vary). “Collection Box” from Thomas Jefferson Kaye could be a lost Blitzen Trapper track, with bluesy bongos and funk, and Kaye’s somnambulant singing. Willis Alan Ramsey’s “Northeast Texas Women” also sounds fresh with its spare production and rambling barroom shuffle. Ramsey’s voice is reminiscent of Boz Scaggs, though I don’t know that Scaggs ever sang about “Northeast Texas Women with the cotton candy hair.”

Titans of country music are represented here. Willie Nelson’s witty slow groove, “Shotgun Willie” is punctuated with sharp horns. On Dolly Parton’s “Getting Happy,” a jittery funk bass line marries steel guitar and then makes friends with some soulful backup singers and smart drumming. As if that weren’t enough, Dolly’s glorious voice comes over the top, beautiful and clear and inimitably Dolly.

Things get a little psychedelic on Townes Van Zandt’s “Hunger Child Blues.” They actually get more psychedelic than country, despite the wailing harmonica. The swirling “Nobody” from Larry Williams & Johnny Watson with the Kaleidoscope does it one better and adds sitar and James Brown-ian grunts. By far, though, the most psychedelic is Jim Ford’s “Rising Sign,” a paean to astrology with a transcendental meditation chant (which comes out a bit more like “Nam Yaho Ran Gank Ya Ho”). Remember Dick Shawn’s character in The Producers, Lorenzo St. DuBois? “Rising Sign” would have been the perfect song for him. It’s going on every mix CD I make from here to eternity.

Jackie DeShannon’s gorgeous version of The Band’s “The Weight” is deceptively easy until the chorus. She lets it fly then, and it is wondrous. Gene Clark and Doug Dillard’s take on The Beatles’ “Don’t Let Me Down” becomes plainspoken and bluegrassy. JJ Cale’s slinky “Cajun Moon” is outstanding lowdown funk that befits Cale’s singular delivery.

Country Funk II is a miracle of an album. It captures a moment before country music became maudlin and string drenched (late ’70s – early ’80s, you were the worst!), when artists took a little from column A and a dash of funk from column B. The songs are eclectic and interesting, and the record is fun. Country Funk II will save you from having to seek out these little gems of brilliance: they’re all collected for you in one handy place with some sweet cover art.

Country Funk II, 1967 – 1974 was released on July 15 by Light In The Attic Records.