Now this fantastic gem needs a little explaining. It was recorded in Vancouver, B.C. in 1973 and released on Concept Records which was based in Regina Saskatchewan. Now comes the puzzling part. The band was a funk band from San Francisco. A 10 piece 'rock and soul' band that took their name from the neighbourhood they grew up in Hunter's Point. Named after a 'race riot' that took place there in 1966.
On the back cover it says: Hunter's Point Riot, better known as H.P. Riot, is excitement. Excitement in sound, excitement in feel, excitement in movement, and, especially, excitement in their ability as performers. It's music from the soul.
Makes perfect sense to me. What we have here is a San Fran funk band that spent a large amount of time touring and preaching the funk gospel to Western Canada, and probably signed the record deal while on tour. That's how lots of funk bands did it. I'll let you take a minute to come up with some other 70's funk bands that took the same route. Go ahead, I'll wait...........I spent a bit of time on it myself and didn't come up with anything either. Talk about taking the unconventional path.
But enough of all that, it's the music that's important right! Well the music is good. Early 70's funk done the right way by young men eager to be heard. I've managed to get my hands on a second copy (in case my brother wants his back) and I've seen it around here and there so I could get a few more, but it seems outside of Vancouver it's on the rare side. If you can get your hands on it I would highly recommend it.
For now let me give you a taste.
Song 1, Side 2 "Help Me (Get It On)"
Hi. My mother Ione was involved with HP Riot as a Producer based in Regina, Canada. They stayed at our family cottage for a time. It was such a blast when they were there!
ReplyDeleteAlexandra I'd love to hear from you on this, where are they now. I just discovered them myself, currently listening and loving.
DeleteJust picked up a VG+ copy in a used book & record shop in Toronto. Absolutely killer album. So much energy! Knowing it was recorded in Vancouver makes it even better somehow...
ReplyDeleteI found this album in a collection I picked up and it’s one funky album. I also grab anything that looks remotely funky and this one did not disappoint! I love the Canadian connection and obscurity of this band
ReplyDeleteHmm, still have my original copy in my album collection from when it was released in the early 1970's. I'm guessing that unlike the rest of the folks who have commented, I am the only one old enough to have been around when that was the case. The truth was, this album was marketed solely via late night TV commercials on the likes of CITY-TV in Toronto, (which is where it caught my attention). Whilst an interesting example of the Funk/R&B sound that came out of San Francisco in the early 70's, the quality of the musicians was sub-standard, as was the quality of the recording, (Mushroom records anyone), which is why it was released by an obscure record label in Canada, and marketed on TV. These guys simply were not good enough to obtain a recording contract with a major record company. If you are interested in the Genre, I would much rather recommend Tower of Power, which also originated in the Bay Area at the same time, and is a much more polished quality of musicianship and recording quality. More, they are still around to this day. Like this album, the entirety of Tower of Power's output also resides in my record library.
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