A few years removed from their 1970 Damon Studios session
in Kansas City, Bump & The Soul Stompers, led by Jerald
“Bump” Scott, responded to their era’s off-kilter naming
conventions to become Unnatural Funk Band. After failing
to find a label home for “I Can Remember,” they made the
descent into neighboring Independence, Missouri’s fabled
subterranean Cavern Studios, erected inside the mouth of
an actual limestone fissure. “Living in the Past” is a nostalgic
drift through wistful falsetto and low-riding narration, while
“Strange Happenings” is truly exceptional: an unnaturally good
funk workout from a virtually undocumented Kansas City soul
act. This previously unreleased pairing was unearthed, with
assistance from “Bump” Scott himself, during the Numero
Group’s KC-focused research for 2013’s
Eccentric Soul: The
Forte Label
collection.
