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LP
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VAMPI 319LP
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This wonderful and highly sought-after album was originally born from a promotional campaign by the U.S. Army to encourage recruitment. The recording perfectly captures the spirit of young America through songs written by Sly Stone, Curtis Mayfield, Funkadelic, and Burt Bacharach (via Isaac Hayes, of course). High-level soul and funk performed by brilliant anonymous musicians. Virtually impossible to find in its original edition, Vampisoul are now reissuing it once again thanks to a collaboration with Now Again. Pressed on 180g vinyl. Often, the most prized records by collectors hold unexpected stories. When they also feature incredibly high musical quality and only a few original copies are available, they become the holy grails of collecting. This is the case with this album, recorded by American soldiers stationed in Germany in the early '70s. During the Vietnam War, the U.S. Army organized a band competition among its soldiers. The winners would record a promotional album that would be distributed for free to encourage enlistment during such a turbulent time. The result was a double LP shared between the bands SOAP and East of Underground. Although East of Underground's repertoire consists of covers of soul and funk hits, the quality is surprisingly high: raw guitars, crushing drums, and brilliant vocal harmonies. When the label Now Again tried to reconstruct the story of East of Underground, they only managed to contact one of its members after digging through documents in the New York Library and collaborating with the U.S. Army.
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LP
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NA 5223LP
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2024 repress. "Soul, funk and rock recorded by US Army Servicemen during the height of the Vietnam War and released as a recruitment tool by the US Army as a recruitment tool. United States Army soldiers made the music contained on this album during the politically turbulent early 70s, towards the end of the Vietnam War. East of Underground was comprised of soldiers stationed in bases across Western Germany. While little is known about the band, the players, and the milieu they came from -- other than what can be pieced together from a handful of photos and documents found in a box in the New York Public Library, and the vague recollections of some of those involved -- we at Now-Again Records have worked diligently with the United States Army and researchers the country over to present this important document -- and some damn good soul and funk music."
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