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Dap-Dippin’ … with Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings (2002)
8.5
Introduction / Got a Thing on My Mind / What Have You Done for Me
Lately? / The Dap Dip / Give Me a Chance / Got to Be the Way It Is / Make
It Good to Me / Ain’t It Hard / Pick It Up, Lay it in the
Cut / Casella Walk // Hidden track
How
‘bout some high-energy soul, baby? I discovered this album only a few
months ago, but boy, was I amazed for a while. Whether you’d consider
it a good thing or not, it’s up to you, but Sharon Jones and The Dap
Kings take us back 35 years in time with the grittiest soul album I’ve
heard in years. Obviously using James Brown’s soul/funk peak
of the late ‘60’s and early ‘70’s as a blueprint,
this lady and her 8-piece backing band produce granular soul that swings HARD
and is guaranteed to make you shake your steak. Most of these cuts were written
by bass player Bosco Mann, who obviously knows his soul history by penning
a bunch of songs that would’ve fit perfectly on Brown’s albums
with the JB’s or any other of his legendary bands. That implies that
several of these songs defy the classic rules of song structure: instead of
being concerned with rigid verse-chorus-verse successions, these songs are
often repetitive dirges, entirely based on the simple, recurring horn lines
(often just a few notes) and a funky rhythm section that’s so much more
important than a scratching guitar. The band’s “secret”
weapon, of course, is Sharon Jones herself. Like the liner notes have it,
“this sister is B-A-D!” and indeed, it’s the kind
of woman who’s been spoon-fed soul and must have funk running in her
blood. In the mock introduction that opens the album with a wink to the classic
Soul Revues, the announcer also calls her “110 pounds of soul excitement”
and that’s exactly what she is: a bomb, a ball of energy, fire and spirit.
It’s a tough, powerful voice that’s reminiscent of divas like
Vicky Anderson and Lynn Collins, sirens that even elevated the soul-factor
of Soul Brother Number One’s power some 35 years ago.
So, you got an album that’s hardly original, but in a way this slab of retro-funk is certainly refreshing, because you have to admit that, despite the fact that there are some talented soul singers around, most of the products you’ll hear these days sound like spineless rip-offs of ‘70’s accomplishments. With Sharon Jones, who reduces most contemporary soul divas and their multi-octave reach to bystander-status, the sheer force of the music that once taught people about respect, pride and the uncomplicated joy of making swinging music, has returned. It’s probably music that’s even more effective in a live context (as reviews of their incendiary shows seem to confirm), where the band can really let loose and let the grooves decide the songs’ directions, but they’ve also succeeded in laying down a dirty live sound on tape. The bass is greasy and prominent, the drum a hypnotic machine that targets the legs and hips, the guitar and organ subordinate yet essential, while the horns (trumpet, tenor and baritone saxophone) provide the accents and additional foundation that tops off these songs. While the label, Daptone Records, released no less than five of these songs as vinyl singles, most of the songs are similar in quality, frenzied, danceable slugs that are pure party music. “Got a Thing on My Mind” was the first trance-like single and is quite representative for the album. Equally exhilarating are “The Dap Dance,” the introduction of a new dance craze (remember The Mashed Potato anyone?) driven by an irresistible four note bass figure, the arousing soul anthem “Make It Good to Me” that also adds some social commentary, the undiluted funk of “Pick It Up, Lay It in the Cut” (if you can sit still during this song, you’ve heard too much Radiohead, pal) and “Ain’t It Hard,” the album’s lone ballad that contains an excellent, heartfelt performance by Jones. Some songs are slightly less terrific than others, but they all have something goin’ for them, whether it’s the superb catchphrase of “Give Me a Chance” or the lushly arranged horns in “Ain’t It Hard.” The most outstanding and surprising of them all, however, might be the nearly unrecognisable version of “What Have You Done for Me Lately?,” which is, indeed, the song that was a hit for Janet Jackson. On here, though, it’s a concise slab of pure soul dynamite, a song as catchy as the most dangerous virus and bursting with a mature indignation Janet couldn’t have come up with. As suggested above, Dap-Dippin’ doesn’t offer anything new, but it’s tremendously reassuring that at least somebody is still recording the real thing, and Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings have done it with commanding style and creativity. Hats off.
Note: There’s a hidden track attached to the end, an
instrumental that reconciles traditional funk with Meters-styled bayou-funk.
Read album reviews of similar or related artists: The Dirtbombs