San Francisco’s main claim to musical fame will always be psychedelic rock. The city served as the epicenter of flower power, hippies, tie-dye, and acid in the mid to late 1960s, soundtracked by far out locals such as Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Country Joe and The Fish, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and many more electric, day-glo, trippy travelers.

But the Bay Area also provided a home for a host of other musicians whose inclinations leaned into a different kind of vibration.

It’s time to bring in the funk.

Sly & The Family Stone, Graham Central Station, Tower Of Power — those are but a few of the groovecentric bands who sprang up in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge in the late 60s and early 70s. Another was Cold Blood, who formed in 1968 and subsequently signed with noted concert promoter Bill Graham on his fledgling record label, the aptly named San Francisco Records. The group often played at Graham’s Fillmore West with lead singer Lydia Pense belting out cover songs while a tight horn section blasted away behind her.

Cold Blood received some positive write-ups in Rolling Stone and their first album was a minor hit, but widespread radio play proved elusive outside of their hometown. By the time of their fourth album, Thriller! (yes, before Michael Jackson), almost nobody was listening anymore, which is a shame because it’s filled with heartfelt blue-eyed soul and pure, uncut funk.

Here’s Lydia and Co. in 1973 taking on a Bill Withers song and spinning it into their own thing: