Aaaah, the world of a rare funk collector - paying obscene money for truly obscure records, then finding that the LP has been reissued at a budget price. I'd feel sorry for them if it wasn't so funny.
In the case of this self-titled LP from Hot Chocolate it's the nice people at Soul Brother Records who have done the reissuing. And just to avoid any confusion, this isn't the UK band of the same name featuring a lead singer that closely ressembles a malteser, and who was once voted the world's sexiest man.
This is a reissue of a stupidly rare LP from 1971, of which less than 500 copies were ever made. I bet that means that Keb Darge has a box full of them. Anyway, it's been around in reissue form for a few years now, but you should still be able to pick up a copy for a tenner or so.
True to many of the rare funk tracks you'll hear, it's got a gritty, homemade feel. But where it differs from many others is the quality of the material - songs are well written, instrumentals are well balanced and very tight, even on the obligatory sooooooul ballad.
If you are looking for a bona fide floor filling funk monster I don't think this is the right LP. The closest it gets is What you want to do, an uptempo instrumental, not a million miles from something The Meters would do, but maybe with more congas (that's a good thing, by the way - can never have too many congas).
This is certainly a great LP for funk and soul fans. While it might not be a dancefloor killer, few funk groups have ever put out a whole LP of material that sounds as sweet and smooth as this.
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