This latest in the series of rare funk releases on Tuff City’s Funky Delicacies imprint shows that the vast reserve of unheralded groove from the Crescent City’s salad days remains undepleted. Folks who think the Meters invented New Orleans funk and then died with it are gonna have a field day with this release, expertly restored as usual from the vaults of defunct and wonderfully monikered labels like Power Funksion and Hep Me. Indeed, six of these 17 tracks have never been heard by the general public at all, and the closest thing to a recognizable hit here is Deacon John’s “You Don’t Know How (To Turn Me On)” from Bell. Aside from one Eddie Bo track (a very Ike and Tina duet with Inez Cheatham on “Lover and a Friend”), the names here are likely to sail past most heads not bobbin’ in town back in the day. If you know who the Louisiana Purchase, the Top Notes, and the Dome City Orchestra are, however, listen up.

There are no real “lost classics” here for anyone not besotted with deep funk, but the sound’s good—as good as it can be, anyway, considering that some of these original masters are long gone—and while New Orleans funk from this period isn’t much different than what was going on in other cities, it was, as you might imagine, more syncopated and unselfconsciously gritty at a time when even Memphis artists were starting to sweeten their sound. It’s also a lot of fun, given how Muchos Plus turn “I Shot The Sheriff” into “Funky Sheriff” by simultaneously building off of and mocking Eric Clapton’s version and how Dome City Orchestra perform similar miracles with Earth Wind and Fire’s “That’s The Way of the World” on the instrumental “Higher, Higher.” It’s the kind of sound that practically has bell-bottoms on it, but if you like it deep and rare, the FFNO series will deliver.