milt larkin led one of the greatest of all territory bands but tragically it never recorded and today can only be thought of as legendary. during 1936-42 he led his famous band which toured in the southwest and played briefly in kansas city, chicago and at new york's apollo theatre. the orchestra broke up when he went into the military. in 1946 after his discharge he had his first opportunity to record, but by then his moment had passed. larkin continued leading bands throughout much of his career, settling in new york in 1956 where he often headed a septet at the celebrity club. in the late 60s he recorded the now sought after 45 rpm single for the 'amark' label (amark 930/1 "you ain't my brother" b/w "no good woman") under the name the soul shakers. in 1976 he released his final longplayer on 'copasetic' records out of new york which includes an updated instrumental version of "you ain't my brother". this time he called himself milt larkin & his all-stars.

as a special gift for all collectors out there we pressed again two different issues. the 'tramp' issue contains both versions of "you ain't my brother" while the limited 'tramp' issue (move your mouse over the 'tramp' label on the left and it will show up) is limited to 200 copies . beside that the 'amark' issue comes with the original b-side, a blues track titled "no good woman".
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tramp issue
you ain't my brother (60s version)
you ain't my brother (70s version)
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amark issue
you ain't my brother (60s version)
no good woman

after focusing on new recorded funk and afrobeat on the latest releases, we at tramp records are now back on the track to discover some more rare and obscure funk tunes. this has been our passion since we started the label in 2003 and it still thrills us to continue doing that.

not much is needed to describe those two songs on this re-issue. although pretty unknown even in collector circles, donald ray recorded three 7" singles in the early to mid 1970s. while his last outing from 1976 is probably the easiest one to find (and the one of less interest for us deep funk lovers), his others remain sought after 45rpm singles in the deep funk scene.
'strut your stuff', taken from his first released 7" single, is a midtempo masterpiece led by a strong bassline which contains a wonderful wah-wah guitar solo. donald ray's vocals fits perfectly, it could not have been done better. 'we don't need it' is from his second 7" single which is even harder to find nowadays than his first one. funk lovers might be disppointed when hearing the intro, expecting something like a soul song or a ballad. but after the mellow intro, when the band kicks in you know for sure that some serious deep funk business is going on.
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strut your stuff
we don't need it

in the late 60s/early 70s many american soldiers where stationed all over germany. among those where musicians who played in several army bands like the "east of underground" which recorded a now sought after album after they had won the special services entertainment showband contest held in frankfurt in 1971. nobody knows which other bands participated in this contest, maybe also the soul explosion which were stationed in augsburg, upper bavaria. around the same time, a man named charles held opened a club in augsburg town called "tarantel". furthermore he was running a record label of the same name on which he released a handful of 7" singles from different, local bands, mainly not funky at all though. the soul explosion's release remains the only one in the field of american soul & funk music. the band recorded a fantabulous double-sider with barn yard pimp on one, and love is the answer on the flip.
unfortunately there is no more information available about the band, only that they even performed live at the "tarantel" club.

as on our last release we decided to make collectors happy again, that's why we pressed two different issues. the regular issue reads 'tramp' as the label, the strictly limited promo copies (300 pressed) comes with the original 'tarantel' label artwork
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love is the answer
barn yard pimp

tramp records is very happy to present you two more unreleased deepfunk tracks by philly's one and only 1984.
the first release by 1984 on tramp (tr-104, 'there's a wrinkle in your time' b/w 'theme') in early 2006 was one of the best selling singles so far. therefore it was just a matter of time to release the final recordings of this fantastic band. 'trip' has been recorded during the same session as 'theme', the production and arrangements are of sheer quality, delievering a powerful funk bomb. the vocals on 'trippin' were recorded and overdubbed in early 2000 with the help of philly funk aficionado dave brown.

much thanks to dave again who first introduced me to this band, without him it would have never worked out. the linup here is the same as on the first release, however we do not hesitate to tell you the names of all the fabulous musicians. here we go:
Arthur 'Sly' Ray - vocals, Harold 'Rashid' Johnson - drums, Gerald Foster - congas, Ron Hynson - bass, Stan Burton - lead guitar, Andre Johnson - rhythm guitar

last but not least, to satisfy the collectors needs we did two pressing with different label artwork. the black label issue (which you can see whe moving your mouse over the yellow label pic on the left) will be available directly from us only and is limited to 300 copies.
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trip
trippin'

jimmy bo horne was born september 28th, 1949 in west palm beach, florida. after schooling at the local roosevelt high school, jimmy has been singing since his teens and professionally since his college years at bethune cookman. in 1967, while still at college, jimmy entered the golden gates of henry stone and was assigned to his alston label.
his first release, "I can't speak," was penned by clarence reid and produced by steve alaimo and brad shapiro. actually, the record was released on the alston sister label, dade, as was its successor, "hey there jim." a third release was forthcoming in "sweet love power," but jimmy went into a voluntary recording retirement until 1972 when he returned to the main alston label with the follow up to betty wright's mammoth worldwide smash, "clean up woman." jimmy's version was entitled "clean up man" and it allowed him his first taste of success. in the late 70s he had some more chart appearances with disco tunes like "get happy" and "dance across the floor".
deep funk fans all over the world have been desperately looking for the ultimate "hey there jim", his rarest and by far best funk recording while soul collectors have been searching for "sweet love power" which original copies sell for silly money too. now you can get both for cheap!
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hey there jim
sweet love power

carlton basco was born on february 17th, 1944. he started playing guitar and then moved over to the piano. upon graduation from high school, carlton went to college and studied music. a few years after leaving college he formed his own musical group, a quartet who started performing right away at the most popular club in central louisiana, "the imperial lounge". carlton wanted to expand musically so he bought a new instrument on the market, the hammond b3 organ. after a couple of years with the hammond b3, he started writing and arranging tunes for studio recordings, one of them being 'don't chain my soul'. sadly enough, carlton basco died on october 26th 2003 after suffering from diabetes for several years. (an interview with his brother Charles is available at soulgeneration.co.uk) beside that, "don't chain my soul" appears on tobias kirmayer's second compilation "movements pt.2" which is available from july 2006 on perfect toy records.
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don't chain my soul
it's just an illusion

the rhythm machine was formed by james boone and james brantley after they had left the highlighters band in 1970. the new band was extremely hot and that's why they were always on the road and not often in the recording studio. "the kick" was one of three 45rpm singles they ever recorded, the one we like most.
spider harrison was probably indianapolis' first soul dj in the late 60s. in 1970, jerry herman, founder of lulu records, offered him to record a 7" single. harrison accepted and recorded "beautiful day" backed by the highlighters' rhythm section. he thought "beautiful day" was going to be a big hit, because he knew that sly stone, percy sledge and also bb king were djs before they had hit records. unfortunately this was not the case. both tunes appeared first in 2001 on the excellent "funky 16 corners" compilation from stones throw records, you gotta have this one too!

the rhythm machine's original band members were:
Kevin "Flash" Ferrell - vocals, James Brantley - guitar, Robert Dycus - drums, James Boone - bass, Julius "Mackie Boy" Mack - tenor sax, Mardie Williams - alto sax
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the kick pt.1&2
beautiful day

eddie bo is a very important figure in new orleans' music history. in the late 60s/early 70s he produced and released tons of 45s, more than 20 under his own name and at least 40 for other artists like mary jane hooper, skip easterling, the explosions and many others.
david robinson was one of them. he was singing with dave bartholomew at that time. one day david (robinson) came to the studio and said he wanted to do something on his own. luckily bo said "let's try it!". probably any funk 45 collector in the world, and especially we at tramp records, are happy that eddie bo agreed spontaneously to produce him. you can guess, it's a funk monster of the highest order!
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i'm a carpenter part 1
i'm a carpenter part 2

back again with another essentiell release, this 45 has everything you need! the a-side is smoking deep funk with fantastic vocals (originally released as "tee'n'cee & the l.t.d.'s"), the b-side is a great instrumental with hammond organ and two frantic drum breaks, originally released as the u-f-o's. although these two songs were originally released on two seperate 7"s under different band names, these are actually the same guys! enjoy the fantastic funk sides of this great philly group!

original band members were:
Herman Carter - organ, Harold Carter - sax, Norman Satchell - sax, Arthur Irons - guitar, Rusty 'Stone' Jackman - bass, George Fels - drums
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tighten up with soul pt.1
too hot to hold

tramp records is proud to present to you our second 45 reissue. originally released on the tiny 'occonee' label out of philadelphia, this was guy morris' only recording. the special thing on this reissue is the previously unreleased version of 'cool it' on the b-side which has never been released, until now!
an absolutely essentiell piece, it will rock any dancelfoor! this track is also to be found on tobias kirmayer's first deep funk compilation "movements" released on perfect toy records in early 2005.
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hot pants party
cool it (previously unreleased)

the first release in the series and what an opener! the blenders are originally from greensboro, north carolina, and this is the place where they recorded this devestating double-sider. both parts are killer funk tracks, probably the best examples of what deep funk is all about! uptempo and hard with breaks and beats to die for. check out the soundfiles which give you an impression what you will miss if you don't buy it!
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nothin' but a party part 1
nothin' but a party part 2