Funk or Walk in Bloomington, MN

Much like
Prince
in the 1980s,
George Clinton
had a long list of disciples in the late '70s.
Clinton
's p-funk empire wasn't only
Parliament
/
Funkadelic
, it also included
Bootsy's Rubber Band
,
Fred Wesley & the Horny Horns
, and two female groups:
Parlet
and
the Brides of Funkenstein
. The latter recorded two albums in the late '70s, the first of which is the good to excellent
Funk or Walk
. In addition to producing or co-producing everything on the LP,
co-wrote most of the material. So not surprisingly,
tends to be very
-flavored. But the record is surprisingly diverse, and
keeps things unpredictable.
"Birdie,"
"Amorous,"
and the infectious opener
"Disco to Go"
(which
wrote and produced with
Bootsy Collins
) are all very
-like, but the jazz-influenced
"Nappy"
isn't unlike something
Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band
would have done. The melancholy
"Just Like You"
is a conventional soul ballad, and the glossy
"When You're Gone"
would have been appropriate for a
Silver Convention
album. On
the Brides
' two-woman lineup consists of
Dawn Silva
Lynn Mabry
, both demonstrating that they have no problem handling the variety of things that
sends their way. ~ Alex Henderson