Bohannon - Too Monotonous?

**Disco Funk** · October 3rd, 2005, 09:49 PM

What do you guys feel about Bohannon's stuff? I recently bought a bunch of his albums, and they pretty much sound the same. I think his biggest problem, especially during the Dakar years, was his drumming style. He liked to ride the snare waaaay too much. Every song was basically a remake of Pimp Walk or Stop and Go from that first LP. Ironically, his most sought after LP, and best in my opinion, was that first LP because it had some awesome funk grooves.

He kind of redeemed himself during the Mercury years, with that 'Lets Start The Dance' which was a remake of 'Keep On Dancin' from his same named '74 LP. By '78 I think he realized that playing the snare was too much to take. Not too many disco songs were using that style of drumming, except for the rare one like ORS 'Moonboots'. The albums from Summertime Groove onward seem to have better sounding beats.

Interestingly, his Carolyn Crawford LP 'Nice and Soulful' is his best work post 'Lets Start The Dance' and is very musical, unlike his own LPs.

Would you guys recommend Bohannon to newbies to disco, or would you warn people to stay away from his LPs?

Disco Funk

**Videoskooter** · October 4th, 2005, 02:12 AM

Originally Written by Disco Funk

Would you guys recommend Bohannon to newbies to disco?

Absolutely. Bohannon is essential stuff and IMHO has never got the recognition he deserves. The beats are uplifting and the grooves are legendary and he made some eternal classics. My favos: "Bohannon's beat", "Let's start the dance", "Disco Stomp" and "Cut Loose".

**QUINNY** · October 4th, 2005, 03:32 AM

He was a guy with only a few ideas, but without Bohannon the world of Disco Funk would have been a much less groovy place. I always had the impression that he was a hustling type of guy whose head was slightly too big, but hey!

Without the recycling we would'nt have had Let's Start The Dance or more importantly, Let's Start II Dance Again. An absolute 24 carat, Disco anthem of all time.

By buying his LPs you've only yourself to blame, if you are now less than enamoured with his output. He was definitely a guy that bought out the odd gem of a single every now and again. I soon realised that his LPs were a case of diminishing returns and just held out for the one boss track on each to be released.

**Disco Funk** · October 4th, 2005, 09:46 AM

With regards to his LPs vs singles, perhaps his songs were best in the edited short form and one track from each LP pretty much summed up the respective albums. But I was curious, which is why I bought the Dakar stuff in one shot. Like I mentioned, his Stop & Go LP is the only one really worth listening to from beginning to end, and sadly, it's the hardest one to get! I would recommend his LPs from Lets Start The Dance/Me And My Gang onward, as they seem to have a bit more variety in the beat and sound. Love those 80's remixes of Let's Start II Dance and Let's Start II Dance Again or whatever they were called.

Disco Funk

**Pete B** · October 4th, 2005, 01:06 PM

He was far too prolific and released loads of very very average material. Remove Lets Start the Dance and a couple of others and you have a very lame catalogue. I can't even imagine a Best Of...would be up to much.

I hear he is a nasty piece of work too

**DISCODISK** · October 4th, 2005, 06:57 PM

Originally Written by Pete B

He was far too prolific and released loads of very very average material. Remove Lets Start the Dance and a couple of others and you have a very lame catalogue. I can't even imagine a Best Of...would be up to much.

I hear he is a nasty piece of work too

there is a best of, deep beats did one some years ago its great,you really can get a best of out of bohannon :P
yes i remember reading he was a nasty piece of work too :o

**eddie** · October 5th, 2005, 01:23 AM

Funk pre-1974 on vinyl tends to be removed from store bins and put on online auction sites because with sampling and rap, it's worth big bucks.
Too much of an artist is always better than too little.

**paul** · October 5th, 2005, 02:02 AM

Only one song I really liked a lot. Foot Stompin' Music.

**QUINNY** · October 5th, 2005, 12:32 PM

Originally Written by eddie

Funk pre-1974 on vinyl tends to be removed from store bins and put on online auction sites because with sampling and rap, it's worth big bucks.
Too much of an artist is always better than too little.

Absolutely disagree. Most artists are fairly limited when you get right down to it. They're only human after all!!

**JussiK** · October 6th, 2005, 02:46 AM

I first heard the South African Man" on the floor of the Empire Ballroom in Leicester Square, London in 1974. They were all doing the double bump to it - two bumps in, two out. Some insisted doing two in, one out. This was when I also saw a couple doing the electric bump for the first time, all bumps in! - Play "South African Man" today to a sweaty floor and it works as good as ever.

**neonlights** · October 10th, 2005, 07:57 PM

I don't have too much of his stuff so far. I have a compilation of his Dakar/Brunswick stuff called "Footstompin' Music," and a couple of the albums he did for Mercury (his own "Summertime Groove," and the second Caroline Crawford album - "Nice and Soulful").. As far as the Dakar/Brunswick stuff is concerned, it's funky but a little repetitive. It's great if your looking for funk breaks, but it's pretty tedious listening for me at times. Maybe I need to give it another listen. He did do some good stuff then like "South African Man" and "Disco Stomp".

That said, I prefer his Mercury stuff though, Summertime Groove and the Caroline Crawford album are both great! Those were the first two Bohannon albums I got, I'd definitely recommend those as introductions..

**Disco Funk** · October 10th, 2005, 08:25 PM

Originally Written by neonlights

As far as the Dakar/Brunswick stuff is concerned, it's funky but a little repetitive. It's great if your looking for funk breaks, but it's pretty tedious listening for me at times. Maybe I need to give it another listen.

Some people might find listening to, say, James Brown doing a 9 minute riff tedious, but I like it because he's got showmanship on the cuts and changes it up a bit with solos and the occasional bridge. Bohannon on the other hand has 7 minute jams of the same riff. His idea of a bridge is shifting the groove up a semi-tone, if that's how you describe it. Not really much innovation involved. If he had put some solos, had the instrumentation come in and out a bit more often, his songs might be more enjoyable. And that continuous snare hit on every beat is just too much. His songs are best heard in 3 minute edits or mixed with other cuts.

Disco Funk

**neonlights** · October 13th, 2005, 05:21 PM

Originally Written by Disco Funk

Some people might find listening to, say, James Brown doing a 9 minute riff tedious, but I like it because he's got showmanship on the cuts and changes it up a bit with solos and the occasional bridge. Bohannon on the other hand has 7 minute jams of the same riff. His idea of a bridge is shifting the groove up a semi-tone, if that's how you describe it.

lol.. that's exactly what his stuff is like sometimes. At times it almost sounds unfinished; in that way it's almost perfect for producers looking for a break or a riff to sample..

While on the subject, as if I remember reading something where he said he could crank out an album a week if the labels would let him..

**Disco Funk** · October 13th, 2005, 08:41 PM

Originally Written by neonlights

While on the subject, as if I remember reading something where he said he could crank out an album a week if the labels would let him..

I wouldn't be surprised, since most of his songs by the early 70's had been remakes or reworkings of his earlier hits, or of other people's hits. His albums are actually not that great. There are the occasional great ones like The Payback or some of his JBs LPs like Breakin Bread, but other than that, they were pretty weak.

Disco Funk