Not a collection of rare funk from Utah, as its brilliant title might imply,
Beehive Breaks
is instead a bouffant selection of woman-fronted soul, funk, and blues sides from many corners of the U.S. Entering its third decade,
the Numero Group
has amassed a catalog of such size that they can dig in their own crates for this and other themed compilations -- such as
If There's Hell Below
-- and appeal to casual listeners overwhelmed by the label's many thorough excavations of ultra-obscure R&B imprints and recording studios. This sampling recycles the cover image from their spotlight on the
Big Mack
label, draws mostly from other volumes in the Eccentric Soul series, and has some acknowledged slight overlap with
Sister Funk
and
Sister Funk 2
, comps released respectively by
BBE
in 2000 and
Jazzman
in 2007. The most popular song here is easily
Sandy Gaye
's gnashing and cautionary "Watch the Dog That Bring the Bone," and that's due to its use in the 2021 film
Cruella
. Only a couple other names will be familiar to the average soul fan. Clean-up woman
Betty Wright
is here with the straight-ahead "Mr. Lucky," and the wailing
Marva Whitney
, aka Soul Sister #1, is just behind her with the characteristically brash "Daddy Don't Know About Sugar Bear." Most brazen of all is the slinking "I'm a Streaker Baby," from slightly raspy South Side Chicago blues singer
Arelean Brown
. It's one memorable boast after another -- "Chest like headlights on a pimp's car," "I'm built like an outhouse with not a brick out of place," "Maybe old now, almost 90 years, but I ain't too old to shift yo' young man's gears." (Never mind that
Brown
was only in her early fifties.) The younger acts are just as sure of themselves as they present perspectives from different stages in life, whether it's the
Jackson 5
/
Sylvers
-style
Promise
("I'm Not Ready for Love") or Oklahoma City candy stripers-turned-vocal group
the Trinikas
("Remember Me").
Numero
completists will be lured
Fay Cooper
's "Closer Together" (left off the digital-only
Eccentric Soul: The Kris Label
) and
Sonics Band
's "Second Avenue" (previously digital-only), both of which are decent. ~ Andy Kellman