A Secret Stash of Fake(?) Funk

Recently, I've picked up some releases on a label called Secret Stash. The albums seemed right up my alley, claiming to be lost porn and blaxploitation soundtracks, funk from Russia and a reggae version of Kind of Blue. However, something about these albums just didn't seem quite right.

Each one of these records is kind of mysterious, which already set alarms off with me. Absolute minimal credits and a suspiciously perfect backstory accompany each record. Me being me, I wanted more info about what I was listening to. If the recordings were really as obscure as they claimed, not knowing the musicians who played wasn't out of the question. But, I figured there should be some reference somewhere to some of the movies the tracks from Porno Grooves are from. Or surely someone is looking for that lost blaxploitation film Mad Dog's Hustle.

Suspiciously, all the information I found about the Porn Groove and Mad Dog's Hustle albums either linked back to those albums or a source which took Secret Stash's promo material verbatim. In other words, outside the scope of these albums, these movies don't seem to exist.

Regarding the Soviet Funk albums, they sure smell fishy, if they aren't out right fakes. This blog post, was one of the first I found and it led me to this message board thread. Pretty damning stuff.

Now I'm not going to say that these releases are fake just because there's no information about the movies or any of the people connected to them out there. And just because there are some wonky Russian titles doesn't necessarly mean it's a fake either. But the evidence sure casts a heap of doubt on the authenticity of these records.

But does it matter? If the music is good, does it really matter where it came from? Well, I kind of think in this case it does. If you're selling something as vintage Russian funk, it's kind of shady to have some guys from the local throw it together for you. I took an interest in these records because of what I thought they were and yeah, I feel a little ripped off that they appear to be fakes.

So how is the music anyway? Well, the one record I haven't mentioned, the Reggae Interpertation of Kind of Blue is very good, though the dub versions on the B side are lacking. The Porno Groove and Mad Dog's Hustle albums are pretty much standard library sounding tracks. Mad Dog leans a little heavier in a blaxplotation groove. Not too bad, but neither is essential.

However, when it comes to the Soviet Funk albums, the origin and back story on the records isn't the only bit of questionable labeling. To be generous, one could call these Jazz-Funk records, but really they are more in an early 70s fusion bag than anything like funk. Aside from not being what I expected, there really wasn't anything that grabbed me on the records. That could be because I was expecting Meters and James Brown and got Return to Forever and Weather Report.

If I'm wrong about these releases being fake, I'd be the first to admit it. I'd also be very suprized. It seems to me like Secret Stash has wrapped some pretty average music in an interesting, but phony, back story and put it out there. Oh well, at least the colored vinyl is nice.

Sly & The Family Stone - The Collection

OK, this is going to be a quick review here of the new Sly & the Family Stone set from Legacy. This isn't really a box set as much as it is all seven of the recently remastered Family Stone albums boxed and sold at a cheap price (I got mine for $50.) These discs are all available separately, though I'd suggest springing for the whole set. There's at least four solid classic albums in there and the other three aren't that bad either.

While people constantly crab about how the Beatles catalog needs freshening up, it still amazes me at how shabby other acts of the era have fared on CD. At least you can get all the Beatles albums on CD and they have a semi-respectable replica of the original artwork. Small Talk was only available on CD in Japan until this reissue series and the covers for There's A Riot Goin' On and Dance to the Music were butchered horribly. And the sound, well, I don't even think it was near state of the art when these discs were first released.

These new issues restore all the art work in a digipack and feature spiffy new mastering jobs. I'm sorry they didn't go the hybrid SACD route like they did with the recent Bob Dylan set, but these things sound excellent. Though I still haven't combed over everything with a fine tooth comb, I can't find anything really to complain about there.

However, I do have one major beef. Legacy has thrown on a handful of bonus tracks and 45 mixes, all of which are appreciated. What I don't understand is why they couldn't have thrown on the three crucial single only tracks recorded between Stand! and Riot. It really aggravates me that I'm still going to have to buy a hits collection to have "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)," "Everybody Is a Star" and "Hot Fun in the Summertime," easily three of the band's best tracks. There was plenty of room to include them and no reason not to (except the desire to make fans shell out for one more disc.)

The other thing I'd like to see is the couple of non-Family Stone Epic albums finally get a CD reissue (though I've heard they aren't very good) and, just to be complete, how about the ahead of it's time remix album Ten Years Too Soon? Still, thanks Legacy for finally doing Sly & the Family Stone Right. This is some essential music, highly recommended.