By 1971, the Vietnam war was an ugly, festering wound that America couldn’t hope to heal, dispensing crippled, drug addicted vets back to the mother country while the conflict dragged on to the final withdrawal of troops in 1973. There have been excellent compilations inspired by the plight of the soldiers, such as Ace’s A Soldier’s Sad Story, highlighting initially hope-filled black conscripts giving life, limb or sanity for their country at this politically-charged time, seemingly in vain.
This remarkable box set goes one step further, presenting music recorded by US Army soldiers while stationed in Germany in 1971. They briefly escaped military life, even dodging combat in Vietnam, by forming bands to entertain troops (which could still take them to the frontline). While tucking their against-regulation afros under their caps, these musicians got seriously proficient with the latest soul, funk and rock hits, given the chance to record after winning the US Army’s Original Magnificent Special Services Entertainment Showband contests.
East Of Underground and Soap came first and second in 1971, while The Black Seeds and Sound Trek won the following year, scooping the prize of a European tour and recording time at the Armed Forces Network studio in Frankfurt. The result was two respective shared albums, pressed and distributed by the Army Recruitment Centre.
Now spread over three CDs (or two slabs of vinyl), the project’s mysterious time capsule aura is further complimented by extensive sleevenotes and memorabilia discovered in a box in New York public library – including documents, photos and a 1971 EOU tour poster. The notes explain how this music was “left behind or forgotten, lost in the fog of war”, before a few copies surfaced to become impossibly rare collectibles, fetching four figures either privately or at auction.
When the seven-piece East Of Underground were recording their sublime set of funky soul and rock covers, George Clinton was embarking on his revolutionary 70s funk odyssey. Aside from the capes they’d acquired from a local costume shop, East Of Underground were already feeling the P-influence – notably in the hallucinogenic spoken intro to Sly’s Higher and a gritty take on Funkadelic’s I‘ll Bet You (segueing into California Dreamin’). Elsewhere, the skin-tight syncopation and celestial harmonies deployed through Undisputed Truth’s Smiling Faces and Curtis Mayfield’s Hell Below would have made them world class contenders in the 70s’ vibrant black music arena. Singer Bobby Blackmon’s performance on their version of The Impressions’ People Get Ready is spine-tinglingly deliberated, while hours of rigorous musical drilling is strongly in evidence when they effortlessly throw James Brown’s Popcorn into Santana’s Oya Como Va.
The other side of the original disc is interesting rather than revelatory, featuring a white rock outfit called Soap earnestly working through harmony-drenched covers, including You’ve Got A Friend, Ticket To Ride and Southern Man. Disc Three, however, is a time-stopping marvel, despite being draped in dubbed on applause. The Black Seeds capture Ain’t No Sunshine, while Sound Trek drop the pace to sweet soul harmonies on soaring renditions of Coldest Day Of My Life and Walking In The Rain With The One I Love – singer Curtis R Corbray boasting a voice which could have placed him among the greats had he pursued a singing career following his army stint.
Sadly, like the rest, nobody knows what happened to Corbray or his bandmates after these sessions, or whether they even survived the war. Only EOU’s guitarist came forward when the LA-based label were putting the set together with the US Army, giving these spectral soul missives an extra poignancy.
