This is the first album of Mickey Stevenson's
Venture material. 'Funky Way' was the label's first
release and a hit in 1967, despite limited airplay due
to having the word "funky" in the title. It went on to
become an early funk classic, covered by Rufus
Thomas for Stax, Tommy Strand for Fame, Jimmy
Bee for Kent, Ray Johnson and others.
" Though mainly recorded in Los Angeles, Calvin
Arnold was a southern soul singer from Atlanta,
Georgia and the material is in that vein - there are
Mighty Hannibal produced tracks, recorded in
Atlanta. Apart from the eight released sides, Mickey
Stevenson's tapes have provided five previously
unreleased numbers including the up-tempo mover
'Your Love Is Too Much' and the superb southern
funk grooves of 'Trying To Fly My Kite (In Rainy
Weather)' and 'Fool Me Baby'.
" The package features never before seen photos and
a 5,000-word biography of the revered singer from
Atlanta musicologist Brian Poust.
" The LP and CD have the same tracks, the CD is
chronologically ordered by release, whereas the LP
is programmed for optimum listening pleasure for
that format.
