bilden sie es funky

The principle that guides my daily trawl through New Arrivals is a combination of name recognition and cover art intrigue. It was the latter that lead me to download Watts Happening, an odd record by an unknown named Don Adams.

The music is solid midtempo R&B, with Adams doing his best Otis Redding impersonation over top. “Yesterday’s Hero” is a stark, moody number with a big weeping string section and a driving chorus, and “That Feeling is Gone” is a slow smoldering blues vamp. I’d never heard of Adams before, so I decided to do some digging.

As it turns out, Watts Happening was originally released in 1969, and it proceeded to remain in print for about 20 minutes. It was recorded in Munich with a band comprised of “some of the most respected jazz players in the local scene.” Adams was Scottish, and he moved to Munich in the late ’60s to join a production of Hair. While in Munich he met sax payer Olaf Kuebler, who introduced him to the Munich jazz scene. This album was recorded for the United Artists label with some of those players, was released to no fanfare and has languished in obscurity ever since. While this is in no way a “Lost Treasure Rescued,” it is a sturdy slice of funk sure to thrill all the other R&B obscurantists in the house. You could drop “What Have You Done” at a DJ night and have dozens of perplexed partygoers rushing the booth for the details.