PRODUCER'S NOTES:
This album marks the beginning of a tribute to the drummers of the early seventies who were the backlore of that organic, mysterious, and messy music called funk. It is a reality check, a wake up call, a protest against the stale drum machine music that seems to have been offered as a replacement to real, live, funky drumming.
Over the last fifteen years or so, in response to the disappearance of the funk, fanatics have clung to party grooves like James Brown's "Funky Drummer" (and a thousand other small label singles) and elevated them to the level of classics. To this day, beat scrutinizers the world over scour for these rare grooves like archaeologists unearthing a lost civilization. Some of these archivists are music producers who (like myself) get their rhythmic inspiration from the impossibly funky breakdowns on these jams.
All of which makes this the perfect time to go back to the creators of this music, roll tape, and make sure there is no mistaking what the funk is and where it came from. On the twelve tracks included here, master drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie revisits some classic moments in funk drumming and offers up some fat new funkies as well. All, of course, stamped with the indelible Purdie sound.
To let that sound come through as clear as possible, a counscious effort was made to 'under-produce' these tracks. No heavy effects were added, and we did not otherways 'hype' the mix. What you have here are a dozen raw, unadulterated drum solos. The pure, uncut funk. Offered in the hope that more people like you will step forward and help keep the funk alive.
Produced and Arranged […] for Fog City Productions
Recorded and mixed at Razor Edge Studios, San Francisco
Vinyl Mastering by George Horn, Fantasy Studios, Berkley, CA