Ohio Players: Funk On Fire: The Mercury Anthology - Disc 2 of 2 CD Track Listing

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Ohio Players Funk On Fire: The Mercury Anthology - Disc 2 of 2 (2002)
Funk On Fire: The Mercury Anthology - Disc 2 of 2\n2002 Mercury Records, Inc.\n\nOriginally Released June 6, 1995\nReissued June 18, 2002\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: One hour, 54 minutes and 12 seconds of innovative funk on two discs is nothing to sneeze at, particularly when the tracks are prime Ohio Players cuts. Mercury adroitly chronicles their chart-blazing career with full-length, unedited versions of winners and album treats. From the bluesy, strutting "Jive Turkey" to "More Than Love," the group displays their superb musicianship and ingenuity on 28 slabs of funk and soul. The guys proved they can slow-jam with anyone on "Together" and the super-lush "Honey." The Ohio Players were affectionally known as Sugarfoot, Billy, Pee Wee, Merv, Diamond, Jones, and Satch, all of whom contributed collectively in the writing and production of all the songs. Everyone is familiar with the hits, and most of their fans already have them; it's unsung pearls like "Good Luck Charm," and the convenience of having these smokin' grooves in one sweet package, that makes Funk on Fire a must. -- Andrew Hamilton\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nPLAY ON, July 6, 2001\nReviewer: Carl Mack (Palm Springs, CA United States)\nOh yes, the Players. In my opinion the best funk band ever. From "Skin Tight" there is the X-tremely funky jam of the title cut and the incredible ballad "Heaven Must Be Like This". From "Fire" the incredible title track and check out the drum work on the smoldering ballad "I Want To Be Free". "Honey" is well represented with four cuts including the incredible jazz influenced "Sweet Sticky Thing". The second side includes latter day efforts that are not as well known but just as good. "Who'd She Coo" is so cool that the funk just flows throughout it and from "Gold" they included one of the two new cuts that were included on that release, "Only A Child Can Love" which is superior to Feel The Beat anyway. Check out "Body Vibes" too, wow, funky and jazzy it just flows and love the smokin funk and space sounds on "Funk-o-nots". Best of all these are all the full length album versions not the singles which do not do the Players justice. As a bonus the last three tracks are previously unreleased tracks from the "Jass-Ay-Lady" sessions (it was to be a double album). Too bad there aren't bands like this around anymore. Play On!\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nThe Best Anthology You'll Find, July 14, 2001\nReviewer: A music fan\nA fabulous overview of a very underrated funk band. If you came of age in the mid-1970s and ventured beyond horrible Top 40 pop radio, then inevitably you chanced upon the Ohio Players. Hard-working and prodigious like great jazz players, they were always consummate musicians. This captures the best of their popular 1970s Mercury releases (nearly as interesting for their practically X-rated album covers as the great music within). All of the classics are here ("Love Rollercoaster" and "Fire") but one listen will expose you to the other fine, albeit less heard, cuts that never crossed over to 70s Top 40 but were staples of large city R&B stations -- and curiously making a comeback on "gold soul/funk R&B" radio formats of 2001. (Some of) these guys are still on the road in the summer of 2001, proving that good funk never dies. A worthy investment.\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nFollowing James Brown and Sly Stone and Before Hip-Hop, February 1, 2006\nReviewer: Ludwig J. Pluralist "avantepopgospeler" (Beacon, NY USA)\nFollowing the earliest hits of James Brown and Sly and the Family Stone, and preceding hip-hop, the 1970s gave us a number of really great examples of soulful funk music by African-American performers. And among the very best were the highly underrated Ohio Players, who, along with Earth Wind and Fire and Parliament-Funkadelic, were my favorites from the world of funk. I was in high school when this was out; listening now brings me back to an era of platform shoes, loud silk dress shirts, and movies like Rocky, Jaws, Car Wash, and Star Wars and to "Butterfly" a certain clothing store/head shop in my NJ neighborhood, staffed by some young, hip, partying Latinos (who'd have this sort of music, as well as stuff like Santana and Led Zep playing on the store speakers). In other words, it's a musical trip down memory lane. \n\nThis compilation, then, containing all the Players' classics, like the romantic jazz piece Sweet Sticky Thing (now these guys knew how to do smooth jazz), the dance hit Love Rollercoaster (a version of which was put to great use, years later, in the Beavis and Butthead movie) and brilliant tracks like Fopp (which like so many great pop tunes appears to be a euphemistic reference to doing the nasty) and Fire (a musical masterpiece), is a joy to listen to. While some of the tracks here are filler, nothing is unlistenable. Whatever weaknesses may be found here are more than offset by the record's many highlights. \n\nOne other point; these guys get a few bonus points from me for having some of the coolest Afros of the 70s. They always looked fly! \n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nFUNK ON FIRE- Say It Slow Hold On, January 24, 2006\nReviewer: Mr. Mack "CJ" (Palm Springs)\nThis is the most complete and thourough Players collection. It covers all the Mercury releases from Skin Tight through Jass-Ay-Lady and even has 3 unreleased cuts that were to be part of Jass-Ay-Lady (it was cut from a double l.p. to single). It highlights the cream of the crop from thier less successful latter day releases (Mr. Mean, Angel, and Jass-Ay-Lady). So along with all the early smash songs you get the smooth and Jazzy "Angel", the funky bass heavy "Body Vibes", and ahead of their time funk workouts "Ohio" and "Funk-O-Nots". Buy it and enjoy the best funk band of all time.\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nWhere's Funky Worm ???, September 20, 2005\nReviewer: zugzwang\nThis is a great compilation. But I've searched and can't find the ONE song that first turned me on to the Ohio Players. \n\nThat's Funky Worm. \n\nIf I want that song I'm going to have to shell out for the Pleasure album. It seems to me that any Ohio Players greatest hits compilation ought to have the song that put the playas on the musical map.\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nOne Of The Things Missing Are Those Beautiful Women, September 14, 2005\nReviewer: Caesar M. Warrington (Lansdowne, PA United States)\nLet's be real here. Those original gatefold sleeves are some of the greatest works of album art in popular music (see especially the CD, HONEY). Too bad Polygram/Universal didn't keep this important aspect in mind when they created this package. Each original album cover should have been reproduced in full-color and on full-page. \nWhat you do get here is some of the greatest funk music, by one of the greatest funk bands in their prime. Two hours of 28 slabs of funk on two CDs, chronicling the years 1974-1978. Included are the great party jams: "Skin Tight," "Jive Turkey," "Fopp," "Sweet Sticky Thing," "More Than Love," "Who'd She Coo," and -of course- the anthems, "Fire" and "Love Rollercoaster." \nSadly missing are some great original album tracks such as, "Smoke," "What The Hell," "Streakin' Cheek To Cheek," or "Running From The Devil." The inclusion of a couple of these gems would have made this an excellent anthology. \nPurchase also the compilation, ORGASM: THE WESTBOUND YEARS. This is a great collection of tracks taken from their earlier, harder trilogy of albums they made for Westbound Records through the years 1972-1973: PAIN, PLEASURE, and ECSTASY.\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nBack in the day...., August 2, 2005\nReviewer: anonymous (Cleveland,OH)\nAnyone past the age of 40 can remember these songs and the effect they had on us at that time. They speak of an era and showcase the sound of an era in the Black community. \n\nWhites listened to Ohio Players in passing when they heard one of their songs once it made it to the top 40 list. Blacks heard them at house parties,dorms,on our 8 tracks. This was the music. And to those of us who were there...it still is. \n\nA great deal of it was studio sound, somewhat mushy, a bit too sentimental. But the horns were right on, the music had a sense of funk, and it was meant to be danced to. If you can think of popular music in terms of being great, this is great music. \n\nThe best thing about this collection is that it has all the Ohio Players songs in it. You don't have to buy multiple CD's. This collection sums up the Ohio Players experience. If you were around in the 70's this is it.\n\n\nHalf.com Album Notes\nFUNK ON FIRE: THE MERCURY ANTHOLOGY includes a 24-page booklet.\n\nThe Ohio Players: Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner (vocals, guitar); Clarence "Chet" Willis (guitar, background vocals); Clarence "Satch" Satchell (flute, saxophone, percussion, background vocals); Ralph "Pee Wee" Middlebrooks, Marvin "Merv" Pierce (trumpet); James "Diamond" Williams (flugelhorn, drums, congas, timbales, percussion, gong, background vocals); William "Billy" Beck (keyboards, percussion, background vocals); Marshall Jones (bass); Robert "Kumba" Jones (congas).\n\nAdditional personnel: Paul Serrano, Jack Kramer (horns).\nProducer: Ohio Players.\nCompilation producers: Ohio Players, Harry Weinger.\nRecorded between 1974 & 1978. Includes liner notes by Alan Light.\nAll tracks have been digitally remastered.\n\nFrom their erotically charged album covers to their grinding, bass-heavy grooves, the Ohio Players were one of the highest profile funk bands of the 1970s. The superb two-disc anthology FUNK ON FIRE represents everything that made the Players great--fine musicianship, a blend of fiercely syncopated rhythms with pop accessibility, and a sassy, outrageous attitude (thanks, in large part, to the animated vocals of Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner). Though the Players released several records for the Detroit-based Westbound label in the early part of their career, they really hit their stride when they signed to Mercury, where they released a string of charting albums, including the funk classics FIRE and HONEY.\nAll the hits and key tracks from the Mercury albums are here, including the hard-driving "Fire" and the infectious "Love Rollercoaster," as well as lush, keyboard- and falsetto-drenched ballads ("Together"). While the Players' late-'70s material is generally considered inferior to their mid-'70s work, the second disc of this anthology does an admirable job of picking the best tracks from these later albums--"O-H-I-O" and the spacey "Funk-O-Nots," among them. In short, the Players' best work is boiled down on this definitive set, making it a crucial addition to any funk library.\n\nIndustry Reviews\n4 Stars - Excellent - ...George Clinton has pinched all the mid-'70s funk kudos for himself, perhaps The Ohio Players deserve some too...\nQ (10/01/1995)
This data cd contains 14 tracks and runs 76min 53sec.
Freedb: c112030e

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