Wrapped in crushed maroon velvet, introduced by an informative Steven Ivory essay/personal recollection, "Funk Box" re-introduces a style minimalist and expansive, up-to-the-minute urban reporting next to supernatural cosmis debris. Depends which disc you play first: James Brown's musical family hits fast and hard on Discs One and Two with the JBs' "Pass The Peas," co-vocalist Bobby Byrd's explosive "I Know You Got Soul," Lyn Collins' Tammi Terrell-sounding "Think," (a hip-hop cornerstone quoted by everyone from Rob Base to John Mellencamp), and Brown himself on "Sex Machine," "Give It Up," and 1974's thrilling "Payback."

The slamming bass beats, scatting horns and deep Southern soul vocals cover the gamut lyrically, admonishing ("What Is Hip," "For The Love Of Money"), sexually teasing (lone entries from White and Rufus, Chakachas' forthright "Jungle Fever"), lamenting ("Slipping Into Darkness," "The Bottle," "Future Shock," with Curtis Mayfield's line, "The price of the meat/worth more than the dope on the street...") , or inspiring ("Express Yourself," Cymande's "The Message"). You also get intriguing funk instrumentals from unlikely sources: "Outa-Space" originally a Billy Preston B-side, Marvin Gaye and Jermaine Jackson's tracks originally from films, the satin-smooth mid-70s Temptations erupting with "Shaky Ground."

Discs three and four would see the funk torch pass from Brown to George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic mothership. This may stem from inability to license Clinton's early-70s Westbound Records LPs like "Maggot Brain" and "America Eats Its Young." (or for that matter, early Ohio Players hits like "Funky Worm.") Discs Three and Four suffer lyrically (Fatback's "I Like Girls" is plain sloppy and annoying) but remain astounding musically: R&B #1s from Parliament, Funkadelic, and Bootsy's Rubber Band, Brick's "Dazz," (with first-rate sax and flute solos), Walter Orange's witty, funky vocals on "Brick House," Steve Arrington's Hendrix-ish guitar soloing on "Slide," Rick James' staking his own claim to funk dominance with "You And I" and protoge' Teena Marie's "Behind The Groove."

You still want more. The paucity of Brown and P-Funk tracks here are understandable given that both artists' catalogues are still in print. But a "Funk Box 2" could include more Ohio Players, Isley Brothers, Kool & The Gang (represented here by one track each), plus less remembered artists like Dyke & The Blazers, Mandrill, King Floyd, Jean Knight and Betty Wright (whose "Clean Up Woman" featured one of the funkiest rhythm guitar leads ever waxed). Even Stevie Wonder could contribute the influential "Higher Ground." Those can wait for the sequel. For now, "Funk Box" guides, glides and slides you through the 70s earthier, more influential dance music which had neither disco's tragic romance nor rock's industrial strength, but better playing, singing and, at best, vision than either. Essential for the 70s party, but also check out K-Tel Records' occassionally available "Super Bad" and "Super Bad Is Back" compilations from the era.


WOW!!! FINALLY THE REAL THANG!! THE FUNK IS HERE!   November 21, 2000
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

How can I express the excitement? It's all here, finally, in one very exciting and beautiful boxed-set. 4-CDs full of Funk an soul. James Brown, Parliament-Funkadelic, Rick James, Curtis Mayfield, Gap Band, Kool & The Gang, Graham Central Station, WAR... the list goes one! ALso, the velvet box and supercool packaging is the bomb. A true collector's item. The is gonna be my #1 holiday gift to all my friends and family. This anthology goes through the decade (and a half) that is know in my house as the FUNKY seventies. There's some rare gems on here too (i.e. James Brown's "Give It Up Or TurnIt A Loose (Undubbed Version)," Roy Ayers 12" Mix of "Runnin' Away," and Cymande's classic Funk Groove "The Message," which shows up less than their "Bra" single these days. If you listen closely, you'll hear where Prince, Michael Jackson, Lenny Kravitz, D'Angelo, Maxwell, Erykah Badu, even George Michael got their sound from. It's all here brothers and sisters. So do yourself (and yours) a favor and pick this up now. It's really well priced, considering the very expensive packaging (Slammin' 50-page, full color book with all kinds of really cool photos and funky graphics (animal prints and all!). They've made this a LUXURY FUNK package. It's so beautiful, I already have on display in my office (everyone is funkin' to it too!). Everyone is on this. A true Funk Essential.


I GOT LIFTED FROM THE FUNK BOX! GET THE FUNK BOX!   December 9, 2000
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

FUNKY. PHUNKY. THE BEST BOXED SET I'VE EVER OWNED. GIVE ME SOME MO' FUNK. OVER 50 CLASSIC TRACKS (AND SOME I DIDN'T KNOW) FROM DEEP IN THE FUNKLOSET. THIS IS THE ULTIMATE PARTY STARTER...THE ORIGINATOR...ONE NATION UNDER A GROOVE. EXTENDED AND FULL VERSIONS OF EVERY TRACK. THIS BOX AIN'T MESSIN' AROUND SO CATCH IT WHILE YOU CAN. THAT UNRELEASED VERSION OF JAMES BROWN'S "GIVE IT UP" IS AMAZING. THIS IS SO GREAT. AND THE VELVET BOX AND AFRO PICK LOGO IS SOOOOO COOL. BIG UPS ON THAT! YOU HAVE A WHOLE 50-SOME PAGE BOOK IN THERE TOO AND THE COOL THING IS: THERE ARE 2 PAGES OF OTHER FUNK TITLES AVAILABLE ON THE MARKET. SO I'D SUGGEST YOU RUN OUT (OR GET IT HERE LIKE I DID) AND GIT THIS SUCKA B4 CHRISTMAS. EVERYONE IS GONNA WANT THIS.


Not enough stars   January 16, 2001
L. Pascua (Wahiawa, Hawaii USA)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful

From 1976 to 1985, as a freelance party DJ in Hawaii and then New York, I slipped cued and cross faded, reading grooves and label orientations like tea leaves. In this compilation, I found the shining stars, the diamonds, in my collection of vinyl. These are the selections that I would play up front, sending the message to all my partygoer's from the get-go: "we're playing PURE FUNK here. This is what you are going to hear until the sun comes up; if you can't get it on, take your dead ass home. Let the party begin". The party situation was blatantly exclusionary. Serious dancers with moves, sufficient stamina and prerequisite ability to recognize downbeat amidst complicated syncopation only need apply. To all of you SERIOUS floor dancers, who feel incredible sorrow for those who can't seem to find the downbeat, who are usually the first on the floor (alone if need be; after all, a thumb slapping bass is a terrible thing to waste) and the last to leave, who watched with dismay as disco and couples dancing came around, who appreciate the power of P- funk combined with G- forces that whipped you around on eight wheels, who are rejoicing at the return of the second and fourth beat definitive bass hit/ tss-tss hi- hat/ chika- chika guitar and return of < 116 BPM's ..... this compilation of PURE FUNK represents all that we hold dear, the reason why some people value the bass above the midrange. In this complication you will recognize the rhythmic elements which catalyze the irreversible conversion of the listener from inert bystander to kinetic headbobber/ popper/ breaker. You will once again hear instrumental syncopation impossible by present technological means, due to their spontaneity and musical appropriateness to fleeting riffs and even single notes. Also, these brothers and sisters possessed extraordinary vocal abilities rarely heard nowadays (when a person who can't actually sing is still given precious airtime), in concentrated numbers to which we have become unaccustomed. This is what dance music sounded like before we got lazy, before we started looping rhythms, letting the machines do the work for us. These are the unadulterated best beats that form the staple for our current sampling core, They created the subconscious standard against which all current "dance funk/ hip-hop/R & B" is compared: it represents the BLACK MUSIC/ NOT BLACK MUSIC line in the sand that was drawn long ago, which some have tried to blur, move, or redefine on their own terms. Fat chance, now with this compilation on the loose. The question is not whether this compilation is exceptional, but whether you have sufficient credentials to own it. Two particular icons, a clenched fist and an AFRO PICK (!!!!) of the cover of the sets says it all.


Giving Up Food For Funk   December 5, 2000
Tone Capone (El Lay, CA)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

Finally a comprehensive Funk collection! This 4 CD box has all of the stanky hits you want, plus many of the obscure diggin'-in-the-crates classics you need! Props to Hip-O on compiling suck a perfect body of funky work. Also, check out the beautiful packaging, from the red velvet cover with a metallicly embossed "Funk Box" logo, to the exquisitely designed 48 page book.

BUY THIS....NOW!!!