Legendary/Rumored Funk Album Unearthed!

Legendary Stax band 24-Carat Black to have newly-discovered material issued.

By Blurt Staff

In 1973 the Stax label issued Ghetto: Misfortune's Wealth by 24-Carat Black, and even though it was never a big commercial hit, it went on to become a fount of sampling gold when hip-hop hit years later, with the likes of Jay-Z, Eric B & Rakim, Digable Planets, Nas and many others tapping it for use in their own hits.

As archivist Oliver Wang, writing at the Soul Sides website, explained in a 2004 look at the album, it "has been sampled, extensively, but it is so much more than that. Ghetto: Misfortune's Wealth is an extraordinary soul album - so diverse in sound that you'd swear it was two or three LPs combined into one... from the horn-filled flair of "Mother's Day," to the sparse, funky kick of "Foodstamps," to these two beauties: the title cut and the "24 Carat Theme".... This album actually incorporates themes and ideas; it's a concept album, with each song introducing additional commentary on the state of Black life in the ghetto. Truly, an awesome album whose greatness goes far beyond just its value to funk fiends."

One album, and the band was outta there, and while funk/soul buffs long suspected a followup had been recorded, due to a number of factors the tapes were never released, and sat in the basement of the group's engineer and keyboardist.

But now, the good folks at Numero Group have uncovered this slice of forgotten American soul music that has been lost for over a quarter of a century: Gone: The Promises of Yesterday are the last remaining songs by 24-Carat Black.

As the label advises us, Ghetto: Misfortune's Wealth "provided a bleak worldview in contrast to many of their label mates, or much of the world for that matter... telling tales of the grim realities of inner-city existence." For this new record, gone are the message-laden songs that they were known for, but these tales of love, either professed or lost, retain the uncannily catchy bass lines and haunting melodies that made the group famous in the first place."

Incidentally, if you want to find out more about that "first place" stuff, the original album is available on LP at Dusty Groove or on CD at Amazon.com .