Black Nasty - Talking to the People

black nasty, early stax funky

a shame nobody wants to explore black rock in general this is a classic stax artists like bar kays were all knee deep in the funk anyway and these mugs try to sound like early funkadelic when eddie hazel ruled the axe not a bad cd very funky, soulful, raw tunes support true black music and cop this. August 22, 2007

NASTY ENOUGH FOR KICKS!

I wouldn't reccommend this album to a casual fan of funk since this band comes off sounding like a low rent Funkadelic. But Black Nasty comes up with grooves that's so nasty and sticky, that you'll easily forget how unorginal they are. They may not have brought anything new to the table, but the first rate grooves is enough to make up for their lack of new ideas.

The fast tempo tracks is about as down, dirty, and raw as you can get with early 70's funk but, the group is lame when they try to slow it down. "Rushin Sea" is the only slow jam that reaches the level of excitement of the uptempo funk.

It's not hard to understand why this album flopped. In addtion to having a rock and soul fusion that made it a nightmare to sell to black and white audiences exclusively, the group never had a style of their own. Back in the 70's, you couldn't just chase down the latest trend of the moment and call yourself being a artist (like you could today!). You had to take the trends, personalize it, and create a style of your own. Not suprisingly this album failed under the radar.

This album is for hardcore funkateers only. Beginners should stick with the usual suspects Parliament, Funkadelic, Kool & the Gang, etc. April 6, 2007

very funky group tight

have'nt heard this in agres good rock funky songs influenced by funbkadelic not quite but if you like black rock from the old school get this evcery song is enjoyable. March 15, 2006

Really thick, gritty, early funk from Detroit

I bought this CD (as I have so many others) because of the review, lower by Mr. Eddie Landsberg, who is usually spot on in his funk recommendations, though at times I think he over-emphasizes how funky some things are...

This is a case in point, there a several burning tracks on this CD- 1, 3, 4, 5, and 10 are smokin, indeed in the style and hard thumpin attack of early Funkadelic. The guitarist definitely tries out his screaming Eddie Hazel licks (Nasty Soul could be a lost Funkadelic early track, it's psychedelic and hot in all the right ways), usually to pretty good effect... Track 7, 'I Have No Choice,' is a very sunny, souful number and calls to mind The Dramatics.

The rest of the album is strong, albeit repetitive at times (a quality that occurs in much funk music). All in all, this is No substitute for Maggot Brain or Standing on the Verge of gettin it On, but it is fairly inexpensive and delightful piece of over-looked funky goodness. It's not genius but still highly recommended.

And check out Mr. Landsberg's reviews and lists, (I emailed him once to ask some recommendations for funky harmonica CDs- he was quite helpful in that regard) if you're interested in funk and spending time on amazon, looking around... I'd never have dug on Rasputin Stash, Black Heat, Black Nasty or many other slept-on old-school funkin classics, were it not for mr. Landsberg's reviews. April 22, 2004

7/8th's Scale Funk

Nuggets! There are some great sticky little gems on Talking To The People, but it's hard to dispel the notion that while in a haze of Maggot Brain induced inebriation, this shag band actually began to fantasize about becoming the next Funkadelic. Deliriously disillusioned lead guitarist Jackie Cosper(?) even attempts the Eddie Hazel mind-meld with a few stinky electrophonic licks. Sadly, the toughest tracks on this record barely surpass two or three minutes, with the same material Funkadelic could easily whip up ten minutes of grooves that would have us reduced into a funk inflected puddle of goo. Black Nasty solidly delivers the (short) nasty on the title track, "Nasty Soul", "We're Doin' Our Thing", "It's Not The World", and "Booger the Hooker". Beware! You may hurt yourself diving for the "skip" button the moment the buzz killing "I Must Be in Love", "I Have No Choice" , and "Rushin' Sea" begin to stink up the joint. Talking To The People is a cool record, though. If you want to impress your friends with your knowledge of funka-esoterica this one is tough to beat, but frankly Black Nasty is a minor league group that just happened to produce a record that almost sounds like it belongs in the majors. Now, where did I put that copy of Maggot Brain... July 14, 2002

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