Eccentric Soul: Mighty Mike Lenaburg
The Numero Group's excellently curatedEccentric Soulseries makes its fifth stop in the desert haze of Phoenix, an area not quite known as a hotbed of soul. As you might guess from the album title, the songs on this collection--all productions by Mike Lenaburg for his Mighty label (most from the mid to late '60s)--are awesome soul numbers that are somehow a touchoff. Similar to the tunes on the bootleg compilationThe Get It, these songs are marginally inept, in a way that could be intentional or not; it's hard to say. But it is certain that the out-of-tune guitars and anachronistic doo-wop backing vocals on "Black and Beautiful" by Michael Liggins make that song all the more poignant. God bless the crate-diggers who compile such hallowed selections of raw funk, psychedelic soul, and strangely compelling dance music. It's amazing that the Beastie Boys never sampled Michael Liggins and the Super Souls' "Loaded to the Gills," a muffled-sounding, remarkable garage soul rocker propelled equally by distorted guitars and jazz flute. The song lives up to its name in every way.--Mike McGonigal