Ghetto Brothers
"Got This Happy Feeling" b/w "Girl From the Mountain"
Truth & Soul
Back in '06 I was in San Francisco for a week rehearsing for a Kelley Stoltz tour of Europe. I found a copy of Jeff Mao's "Can't Stop, Won't Stop" for bargain basement pricing and brought the tome chronicling the rise of hip-hop overseas with me, it's physical weight as hefty as it was metaphorical.
My main takeaway from Mao's exhaustingly informative account was his citing of the Ghetto Brothers as one of the precursors of hip hop. I don't recall if he went as far to actually claim the Ghetto Brothers WERE hip hop, but the fact that the band sprung from a Bronx gang of the same name wearing rockers and sporting colors and is a good start. With band leader Benjy Melendez serving as an architect of the 1971 Bronx-wide gang peace treaty...well, that helps propel the story.
It would take me a minute to actually HEAR the Ghetto Brothers lone album "Power/Fuerza". Wasn't even "officially" reissued at that point and the bootleg was in no stores on my paper route. I think I actually tracked it down on Music Stack or possibly even Gemm, two fairly dead pre-Discogs marketplaces that I'd bet most of you whippersnappers never spent a dime on. Remember when it took EFFORT to hear something? That you had to put some movement and money to make music meet your ears? I don't think I'm bemoaning the advent of streaming/instant everything and readily admit that I had it relatively easy being able to find stuff online for purchase. But damn...
Anyway, the album is great, feels like it exists in a vacuum. In truth though, I was never able to listen much beyond the opening song on the LP. "Girl From the Mountain" gives off NO hip hop vibes to me. It is all wholesome sincerity, incredible hand percussion accompaniment, unexpected thin fuzz guitar solo and "la la la" backing vocals of supreme superiority. It feels like fresh air, cold water, warm coffee, bright sun and cool night all wrapped into one.
I have clear memories of listening to this song on the White Stripes tour bus in summer 2007, coming out of my lap top in the front lounge while everyone else was sleeping in their bunks. Time stopped. Life worked. Everything felt right in the world.
And doing quick research I only find out today that "Girl From the Mountain" is a cover. The original version, written by Felix Tollinchi, was featured on the self-titled album by the Harvey Averne Barrio Band from 1971. And it pales in comparison. Feels more traditional, less vulnerable and ultimately uninformed of the quasi-transitional crossover from Nuyorican island vibes to Bronx hip hop birth.
The fact that neither of these songs were originally released on a 45 doesn't bother me. It is ALWAYS worth it to have a song of this quality available on a single. Jump into it.
Thanks for this. Just downloaded the album, will have to track down a copy of the single for sure.
Ben – Nice shirt, brother! ;)
Man, these guys are awesome
nurture…. i know….. nurture…. dang!!! all mistakes ASIDE …. i enjoy the adventure of these vinyl novelties whether i will choose to comment in the future or not…. im feeling the limitations of social vision in a lot if circles which create some kind of methodical judgemental tones …. tips the hat….
Welllllll Ben.. i gave this particular Record of the Week plenty of space to breath and ruminate…. your supplemental dialogue leaves me wondering just how subjective we all become when submersed in a homogenous reality … not to worry its healthy to do such things at times in our life when we embrace the nuture and quiet the nature… speaking of nature… that may be the key to some of you queries on that elemental question “What does this have to do with HIP HoP???” as posed by this Jeff Mao fella…. one word…. ORGANIC … the origins of this music and the roots scene where hip hop flourished were based in a return to ones own direct connection to experience as a visceral and whole sense of free form vibe combined with content as feeling and attitude……. in this way i can get the connection with the somber overtones and the loose groove this track offers…. to be honest … it leads me to reflect on how we lifelong artistic sorts fall back and use the word Organic to loosely frame some sort of creation that lets our mind and psyche truly wander in the depth and texture of less controlled compostions or expansively gesturical creations which are open and flowing … obvious references to instrumentation and medium asside … the term organic is meant to remind anyone that the experience is accessible and the message veers tominimal for the sake of listening that we i pause just long enough to wonder if Joe Strummer and his crew might have chilled to this at some point as younger men looking for elements of their own culturally diverse heritage… rhetorical question entirely when it comes to the ghetto defendants… but hey…. this is what free form referencing is all about….. My contribution to the community this week is the most righteous of links associated with another weekly column that i have stumbled upon which is over the top mclovin crazy…. the youtube page called POLYPHONIC … whomever this guy is and wherever he hails from has my devoted weekly prime pumped… whew!!!! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WLSditiJVpc …. check it!!!! thanks again ben …. your daughters are gonna nuture just fine on the groove you got aligned \m/
the sound and those percussions, I can feel it…
That bus trip must have been greeeat!
Dope!
Lovely.
This is a new one for me.