Loving On the Flip Side

During the early ‘70s, even as James Brown, Sly Stone, and other major artists were releasing compelling full-length albums, many funk and soul performers simply didn't have the resources necessary to record and distribute LPs. This resulted in a proliferation of small, locally released 7” singles by these lesser-known acts. Such vintage cuts have become the bread and butter of latter-day record mavens like Eothen Alapatt, whose Now Again imprint has dedicated several excellent collections to uncovering forgotten soul and funk treasures. With Loving on the Flip Side, Alapatt and a group of fellow funk and soul obsessives have gathered 21 tunes originally found on the b-sides of locally released funk and soul obscurities from the ‘60s and ‘70s. While the a-sides of such singles often featured attention-getting dance floor groovers, the b-sides typically held lovelorn sweet soul cuts that were less frenetic but just as mesmerizing as their more aggressive counterparts. There are some truly lovely songs here, from Eunice Collins’ lo-fi ode to infidelity “At the Hotel” to The Darling Dears’ sublime “I Don’t Think I’ll Ever Love Another.”