I'm always on the lookout for obscure soul and funk albums from the 1960s and 1970s and this one caught my eye while surfing on Amazon late one night recently. The reviews were mostly positive and the fact that the always reliable Eddie Landsberg recommended this CD made the purchase a no-brainer for me. I'm delighted to say that the music more than met my expectations; this is hot stuff indeed!
The Counts were a band from Detroit and previously known as the Fabulous Counts in the late 1960s. In those early days they had a minor hit with their instrumental "Jan Jan". That song is not on this album (there is a separate CD for The Fabulous Counts), but the songs that are on "What's Up Front That Counts", originally released in 1971, are mighty tasty in their own right. Both the instrumentals and vocal cuts exude a vibrant funky soul vibe. At times they sound to me like a cross between early Tower of Power and early-1970s Temptations, gritty and powerful, horns blasting and guitars wah-wah-ing away. Other tracks sound vaguely like The Meters or even the underrated Rasputin's Stash (another must-buy band, also recommended by Eddie).
This is a relatively short album, with only 34 minutes of music, but pleasing minutes they are! The only reason I didn't give this 5 stars was due to the drab CD packaging. This CD was reissued by Westbound in 2005, but they offer you nothing in the way of a booklet or any liner notes. The inside insert lists songwriting credits, and song times are listed on the back cover, but there isn't a list of the band members nor any information about these recordings. A real shame, because this was obviously a talented band with some cool tunes, and I would have liked more background information on them (I only learned about their previous incarnation as the Fabulous Counts from other sources). Those complaints aside, this is a very good album that fans of 1970s funky soul will surely appreciate.