East Of Underground 1972 US Funk Soul. Originally produced and released by the US Army in 1972 to use as a recruitment tool, this album flew into our top ten list when Chicago-based collector Dante Carfagna first sourced a copy in the late 90s. It never left.
Those who remember the Monty Python skit about the "groovy" Royal Navy recruitment campaign will be left jaw-dropped by Hell Below, an archival release featuring participants in actual US Army "Battle of the Bands" contests from the late 1960s.
The successful entrants – funk groups East Of Underground, The Black Seeds and The Sound Trek, and hapless wannabe-hippies Soap – had their efforts released in a ludicrous bid to boost flagging recruitment during Vietnam. Underground were the best, a flamboyantly-attired, multi-racial show band in the Family Stone mould, whose covers of Sly Stone, Curtis Mayfield and Santana tingle with the excitement of escape from military drudgery. Sadly, only one member of the four bands has since been traced – for potentially more tragic reasons than usual.
"United States Army soldiers made the music contained in this three album box-set during the politically turbulent early '70s, towards the end of the Vietnam War. East of Underground, the Black Seeds and the Sound Trek were bands comprised of soldiers stationed in bases across Western Germany. While little is known about the bands, the players, and the milieu they came from - other than what can be pieced together from a handful of photos and documents found in a box in the New York Public Library, and the vague recollections of some of those involved - we at Now-Again Records have worked diligently with the United States Army and researchers the country over to present this important document - and some damn good soul and funk music. Only one former band member has come forward during the assembly of this anthology, which has lead us to question: where did these talented performers land after their winning performances in Army-sponsored Battle of the Bands contests afforded them (musical) tours across European Army bases? Perhaps some are still around somewhere: perhaps some are still involved in music; perhaps some were killed in action; perhaps some passed on after returning to the States. We've assembled vestiges - a show band contest entry form, a list of names, a couple of photographs, a playlist - to embellish this sonic time capsule, a capsule that functions as a snapshot of American culture during this politically charged era. Each of the two double-billed albums contained in this box-set is presented as an exact reproduction of the original United States Army issue. The extensive, full-color booklet features essays, annotation and a collection of Army ephemera from the creation of these albums. Also included is a full-color, exact reproduction of East Of Underground's 1971 tour poster.
