Soul Searchers
Salt Of The Earth

The Soul Searchers’ second album from 1974, like their debut ‘We The People’, was originally released by the revered Sussex label. By this time the Washington DC based band had fully developed their brassy sound and this album included the funk hits ‘Blow your Whistle’/’Funk To The folks’, and ‘If It Ain’t Funky’, along with the heavily sampled ‘Ashley’s Roach clip’. The album also includes their interpretation of Bacharach and David’s ‘Close to You’, showing a mellower side, which has become popular on the rare groove/two step scene.

At this point they were an eight piece band with a full horn section, organ and percussion, and were considered along with The JB’s, Kool and the Gang, War, Fatback Band and Mandrill to be amongst the leading funk bands of their time. The band has continued for well over three and a half decades and are still performing with some of the original members, having become the leading Washington Go-Go band in the 80’s, influencing groups like Trouble Funk, and Little Benny and The Masters who followed.

Chuck Brown had begun his musical career in the early 60’s playing guitar with Jerry Butler and The Earls of Rhythm, joining Los Latinos in 1965 that enthralled him with their syncopated backbeat. The Soul Searchers recorded two great albums for Sussex in the early 70’s this one and their debut ‘We The People’ from 1972. After a one-off single on Polydor ‘Boogie Up The Nation’ in 1975, they re appeared as Chuck Brown and The Soul Searchers and had a gold album and US No1 single hit with ‘Bustin Loose’ on the Source label. Chuck is widely recognised as having created the ‘Go-Go’ sound combining Latin Beats, African Call and Chant and American Jazz, which has become the sound of Washington DC. He says that ‘Disco was too fast people didn’t want to get all sweaty, they just sat down, so we cut the beat in half and called this new sound ‘Go-Go’ because it never stops’. Chuck and the Soul Searchers have recorded many albums since 1980 and had a string of Go-Go hits including ‘Go-Go Swing’, ‘We Need Some Money’, ‘Back It On Up’ and has toured the world many times with his great live show.

This album must be one of the most sampled in the history of hip hop, with ‘Ashley’s Roach clip’ having been used by ERIC B AND RAKIM ‘Paid In Full’, KOOL MD on ‘I Go To Work’ , LL COOL J on his No1 hit ‘Jack The Ripper’, RUN DMC, PM DAWN, ICE T, and the UK’s own CATCH 22 amongst others, ‘Funk Top The Folks’ by ICE CUBE,GODFATHER DON, POINT BLANK AND CHILL ROB G, and ‘Blow Your Whistle’ by PUBLIC ENEMY and DEF JEFF, making it an album that every Hip Hop sample fan wants in their collection.