John Davis - Flashcan (2006)

Citinite Records compiles the legendary '84 jams of funk master John Davis. John Davis was born in Anderson, South Carolina to musical parents, and started playing the guitar when he was seven years old. He went on to learn the bass guitar, drums and keyboards and began his musical career travelling around America singing gospel music with his father and his five brothers. In the 70s he joined the army and was stationed in Germany; when he left the army he continued to play with both local musicians and American acts who were touring the country. An experienced producer, in the early 80s Davis worked with Terry Lewis of The Time and in the 90s moved to Los Angeles where he played with Babyface and many other artists on the Solar Records label. The tracks compiled on the Citinite album "Flashcan" were written in 1984. John recalls, "I had a friend, Manfred Radtke, who had a small studio in Kitzingen, Germany. He offered me the chance to work in his studio and there I began to write songs in the style that I really liked, that came out of my soul and heart. One of my favourite bands was Zapp and they often worked with the voice box. At the time, music was very electronic and groups like Parliament were doing a mixture of smooth funk and electronics, and so I mixed them together to create my tracks". The resuscitation of electro's most influential producers continues with this reissue from 1984 of John Davis' best work. With a funk quota that makes Prince himself sound like a bow-legged honky, while production techniques have evolved, it's nonetheless clear that Juan Atkins' early work owes a debt to 'Laser Man', I-F has spent a lot of time listening to the warm, vocodered melodies of 'Dream Six-0', and as for Undergound Resistance's high-tech sound? Take a listen to the moody chords and angular breaks of 'Electro-?' to find out who Mad Mike's mentor is. nota do editor [Para Ouvir]