Beehive Breaks

by Beehive Breaks / Various

Overview

Not a collection of rare funk from Utah, as its brilliant title might imply, Beehive Breaks is instead a bouffant selection of woman-fronted soul, funk, and blues sides from many corners of the U.S. Entering its third decade, the Numero Group has amassed a catalog of such size that they can dig in their own crates for this and other themed compilations -- such as If There's Hell Below -- and appeal to casual listeners overwhelmed by the label's many thorough excavations of ultra-obscure R&B imprints and recording studios. This sampling recycles the cover image from their spotlight on the Big Mack label, draws mostly from other volumes in the Eccentric Soul series, and has some acknowledged slight overlap with Sister Funk and Sister Funk 2, comps released respectively by BBE in 2000 and Jazzman in 2007. The most popular song here is easily Sandy Gaye's gnashing and cautionary "Watch the Dog That Bring the Bone," and that's due to its use in the 2021 film Cruella. Only a couple other names will be familiar to the average soul fan. Clean-up woman Betty Wright is here with the straight-ahead "Mr. Lucky," and the wailing Marva Whitney, aka Soul Sister #1, is just behind her with the characteristically brash "Daddy Don't Know About Sugar Bear." Most brazen of all is the slinking "I'm a Streaker Baby," from slightly raspy South Side Chicago blues singer Arelean Brown. It's one memorable boast after another -- "Chest like headlights on a pimp's car," "I'm built like an outhouse with not a brick out of place," "Maybe old now, almost 90 years, but I ain't too old to shift yo' young man's gears." (Never mind that Brown was only in her early fifties.) The younger acts are just as sure of themselves as they present perspectives from different stages in life, whether it's the Jackson 5/Sylvers-style Promise ("I'm Not Ready for Love") or Oklahoma City candy stripers-turned-vocal group the Trinikas ("Remember Me"). Numero completists will be lured Fay Cooper's "Closer Together" (left off the digital-only Eccentric Soul: The Kris Label) and Sonics Band's "Second Avenue" (previously digital-only), both of which are decent. ~ Andy Kellman

Product Details

Release Date:	03/22/2024
Label:	NUMERO
UPC:	0825764151023

Tracks

1. Watch the Dog That Bring the Bone  - Sandy Gaye
2. Mr. Lucky  - Betty Wright
3. Daddy Don't Know About Sugar Bear  - Marva Whitney
4. Remember Me  -  Trinikas
5. Honey Coated Loving  -  Betty & Angel
6. I'm a Streaker Baby  - Arelean Brown
7. Hot Pants, Pt. 1  -  20th Century
8. I'm Not Ready for Love  -  Promise
9. Good Things  - Pearl Dowdell
10. Closer Together  - Fay Cooper
11. Save the Children (If There Is to Be a Tomorrow)  - Lolla Collins
12. Do What You Gotta Do  -  Soul Revival
13. You Got Me Under Your Spell  - Mae Young
14. Come Back Boy  -  Ba-Roz
15. Second Avenue  -  Sonics Band

Album Credits

Performance Credits

20th Century   Primary Artist
Sandy Gaye   Primary Artist
Mae Young   Primary Artist
Arelean Brown   Primary Artist
Betty Wright   Primary Artist
Fay Cooper   Primary Artist
Marva Whitney   Primary Artist
The Trinikas   Primary Artist
Sonics Band   Primary Artist
Lolla Collins   Primary Artist
Betty & Angel   Primary Artist
The Promise   Primary Artist
Soul Revival   Primary Artist
Pearl Dowdell   Primary Artist
Ba-Roz   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Kat Delgadillo   Project Coordinator
Darryl Norsen   Design
Stephen Arndt   Producer
Jeff Lipton   Mastering
Rob Sevier   Producer
Ken Shipley   Producer