Somethin' Else

Kathi McDonald : Freak Lover and Insane Asylum
From Insane Asylum (Capitol, 1974)






Sometime get the blues is good. Could you imagine Janis Joplin jammed with Sly? Damned! Not so easy... Insane Asylum is un poco hard to find. And surely a missing part for everybody who loves Janis, Betty, Rolling Stones and Sly.

In the early 70s several obscure girls were around the bands anybody knows nowadays. Betty Davis is an exception. Ruth Copeland is maybe better known than Kathi McDonald. Therefore, each of these girls were playing RnB, psychedelic and funk. Kathi performed with people such as Ike & Tina (Come Together), Janis Joplin, Freddy King, Rolling Stones (Exile On Main Street) and Betty Davis. In other words, listen carefully her voice and you'll know the quintessence of her discography. We usually post anything here in rock music, even if you consider the Buddy Miles Express as rock music. In fact, we still loving Sly Stone and above all psychedelic soul rock.

That's why I propose these tunes. Papa John Creach on violin give me the impression to listen to Sid Page when he was playing on Small Talk, release in 1974. Strange! It is still a question without answer, why Sly demand to Sid perform on the Family Stone. As strange as why Sly never been credited on Insane Asylum.

Electric Mud

Muddy Waters: Herbert Harper's Free Press News and Tom Cat
From Electric Mud (Chess, 1968)

Since the last post I was wondering what next groovy fuzz tune I could post. Above all, what album could be the 'equivalent' of James Brown's Sho Is Funky Down one? Still groovy Electric Mud, not funkier than Sho, is Hendrix-influenced for psychedelic blues arrangements.

Best Wishes

On the road agin'

Pura Fe : Whole World Down On Me and Rise Up Tuscarora Nation
From Follow Your Heart's Desire (Music Maker, 2004)

Numerous jazz, blues and soul musicians has Black and Indian ancestry as Charlie Patton, Duke Ellington, Jimi Hendrix, Little Richard, Tina Turner, Muddy Waters, Charles Mingus and also The Neville Brothers. Pura Fe (Pure Faith in spanish) was born in 1959 and grew up in New York City. Pura Fe Mother's family of mixed ancestry, Indian, Black and Scott-Irish is "the experience" of many Southern and Eastern Nations that endured slavery, removal, deportation, through colonization and commercial genocide. Her grand-parents comes from North Carolina, Indian native from Tuscarora, Pura Fe demand urgently the recognize of her nation. Her struggle include also the recognize of the Tuscarora's legacy and culture.

You'll learn some historical events about the Tuscarora nation if you see the video program included with the album. Dr. William R. Ferris, University of North Carolina, says : "Indian roots in the South are very deep. We are only beginning to understand how their music, their food, their religion, their language have shaped the American south in powerful ways."Pura Fe adds : "The whole experience of the Tuscarora people we were enslaved. They shipped our people over the West Coast of Africa, then from there they were bring people this way."

See also a video on youtube and her Myspace

Enjoy !