Kool & the Gang Live and Funky

This is an excellent sample of the original Kool and the Gang (pre J.T. Taylor) with a raw, jazzy, and funky set. Recorded in 1970 (and released the following February), this features some excellent instrumentals and a nice streetwise vibe that captures the mood of the era (althlough it still sounds very good today). The rendition of "Trying to Make a Fool of Me" sounds like a Black college marching band playing during the halftime crowing of the homecomeing queen (which is not a bad thing). But the covers of "Walk on By" and "Wichita Lineman" add some creative, jazzy improvisation that takes these songs to another dimension. "Who's Going To Take The Weight" is the fisrst of the gang's message songs, but it doesn't beat you over the head like many others from that time, and the previously unreleased "Kool It, Here Comes the Fuzz" sounds like the soundtrack to a Black exploitation film (some two years before the genre began). This wonderful live set does the amazing feat of capturing the mood of the era while still sounding enjoyable today.