Good lord! Has it really been twenty years since the release of Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings’ Naturally long player? Seems it has and the whole thing is being re-released in a twentieth anniversary double vinyl edition by Colemine Records in conjunction with Daptone Records in both traditional black wax and with a limited variant of 300 copies coming in yellow-with-orange-splatter vinyl. Not sure the dayglow colours fit with the vintage soul aesthetic but if you didn’t cop this the first time round, you’ll want to avoid making that mistake a second time. Why? Because while this wasn’t Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings’ first LP and they released multiple LPs after it, Naturally was the best. Quite possibly because it was also the funkiest – which is also quite possibly why it’s the most sampled too. Opening with the squelchy loping funk of How Do I Let A Good Man Down – the album’s second single, (backed with uptempo soul burner My Man Is A Mean Man which also features) – it yielded as a first single the gloriously jangly sister soul number How Long Do I Have To Wait?. But if you thought that was all the killer – think again! Hell, the whole thing was killer! But in particular any number of hip-hop fans will recognise Jones’ most sampled track This Land Is Your Land while the monster funk of Your Thing Is A Drag is not just the best track on this LP but the best track in Jones’ entire discography. And of course, this level of excellence was a game-changer for both Daptone Records and the burgeoning soul-funk revival.
(Out 2 May on Colemine Records)
