ONE WAY FEATURING AL HUDSON-ONE WAY FEATURING AL HUDSON.

dereksmusicblog ♦ July 3, 2013 ♦ 1 Comment

ONE WAY FEATURING AL HUDSON-ONE WAY FEATURING AL HUDSON.

Between 1977 and 1978, Al Hudson and The Soul Partners released a trio of albums on ABC Records. These three albums were a fusion of soul, R&B and funk. Then in 1979, Al Hudson and The Soul Partners changed their name to Al Hudson and The Partners. The other things that changed on the release of Happy Feet, was their sound. Disco was added to the equation. Happy Feet’s fusion of funk, soul, R&B and disco was well received. Despite this, this proved to be the only album the newly named Al Hudson and The Partners released. 

Following the release of Happy Feet, Al Hudson and The Partners’ record company ABC Records was being taken over by MCA Records. This just happened to coincide with another name change for Al Hudson and The Partners. They changed their name to One Way featuring Al Hudson. This wasn’t the last name change the band would undergo. It would however, coincide with the most successful period of their career, including three top ten US R&B singles. This was all to come.

Now signed to MCA Records and called One Way featuring Al Hudson, work began on their debut. This would be 1979s One Way featuring Al Hudson, which was recently rereleased by Purpose Music Vaults. One Way featuring Al Hudson was the first of eleven albums One Way featuring Al Hudson released between 1979 and 1993. Before I tell you about the music on One Way featuring Al Hudson, I’ll tell you the background to the album.

For their debut album, the members of One Way featuring Al Hudson began work on what would become One Way featuring Al Hudson. SIx songs were written. This included Guess You Didn’t Know and Come Dance With Me, which Al Hudson and Cuba Gregory Jr. cowrote. Kevin McCord penned Music and cowrote You Can Do It with Alicia Myers. Dave Robertson and Valeria O’Neal cowrote I Am Under Your Spell, while Dick Bozzi and John Unger wrote Now That I Found You. These six tracks were then recorded at Pac 3 Studios, Dearborn, Michigan.

At Pac 3 Studios, recording of what became One Way featuring Al Hudson got underway. One Way’s lineup included vocalist Alicia Myers, bassist Kevin McCord, drummer Gregory Green, guitarists Dave Roberts and Cortez Harris plus Al Hudson, who played tambourine and syndrome. Joining One Way, were backing vocalist Brenda Wiley, keyboardists Gary Schunk and Leroy Hyter, who also played synths and saxophone. Rich Becker and One Way produced three songs each. They became One Way featuring Al Hudson which was released in 1979.

On the release of One Way featuring Al Hudson in 1979, it reached number 128 in the US Billboard 200 and number twenty-five in the US R&B Charts. Two singles were released from One Way featuring Al Hudson. Neither Music, nor You Can Do It charted. While this was disappointing, at least One Way featuring Al Hudson was a commercial success. However, why was One Way featuring Al Hudson a commercial success and should it have been a bigger commercial success? That’s what I’ll tell you after I’ve told you about Opening One Way featuring Al Hudson.

Opening One Way featuring Al Hudson is Now That I Found Now. Written and arranged by Dick Bozzi and John Unger, it was produced by One Way. A burst of searing guitar gives way to a piano, pounding drums and synths. Accompanied by a meandering, prowling bass, Al’s thankful, heartfelt vocal grows in power and sincerity. The piano adds to the emotion and beauty, while the rhythm section provide a pulsating, beating heartbeat. Combined with the vocal, the result is a quite beautiful, emotive and heart-wrenching song.

As Now You Can Do It bursts into life, it’s reminiscent of the type of music Earth, Wind and Fire were recording during the late-seventies. Stabs of horns, strings and keyboards join a funky, Chic-influenced rhythm section. They provide a thunderous heartbeat and set the scene for One Way’s vocal interplay. It’s crucial to the track’s sound and success. Sitting atop the pounding arrangement, it’s sung in a call and response style. It has a hypnotic sound. That’s thanks to the interplay between the lead vocals and chanted harmonies. Then when Alicia Myers unleashes her lead vocal, it steals the show. Her powerful vocal impressively and soulfully, soars above the arrangement. In doing so, it adds the finishing touch to this hook-laden, dance track where soul, funk and disco combine.

Guess You Didn’t Know sees the tempo drop and One Way Featuring Al Hudson demonstrate another side to their music. Al takes charge of the lead vocal. Impassioned, filled with emotion and hurt, synths, percussion and an understated rhythm section join sweeping, almost dramatic bursts of harmonies. As the song unfolds, the drums grow in power, reflecting the drama, loneliness and emotion in Al’s vocal.

A driving rhythm section, bubbling synths and chiming guitars open Music. This isn’t any style of music. Not at all. It’s funky, soulful, good-time music. Breathy, punchy harmonies give way to keyboards as Al’s vocal takes centre-stage. It’s tender but joyous, as the rest of One Way add harmonies. This they do while delicious rhythms unfold. Then when the vocal drops out, synths bubble, Dave Robertson adds Nile Rogers’ style guitar and a jazzy piano combine as the track become a glorious seven-minute jam. 

Come Dance With Me sees a change in style. One Way don’t play in such a loose, fluid way. They’re more rigid, deliberate and dramatic. This is obvious from when synths and the rhythm section combine. Alicia’s vocal and the harmonies deliberate and dramatic. Gradually, her vocal grows in power. As she unleashes her vocal, she tries to make the song swing. Helping her in her quest are a prowling bass and sci-fi synths. While the song doesn’t quite swing, it’s certainly a dramatic, hypnotic dance track. That’s partly down to the strummed guitar, drums and harmonies. Good as the track is, I wonder how different it could’ve been if One Way had played with more fluidity?

Closing One Way featuring Al Hudson is I Am Under Your Spell. Hissing hi-hats, deliberate drums and pounding bass join atmospheric synths, piano and funky, chiming guitars. It’s as if the song doesn’t want to reveal its nuances, subtleties and surprises too soon. No wonder. What follows is a quite beautiful, laid-back fusion of musical genres and influences. Meandering along, the arrangement combines jazz, funk and soul, which comes courtesy of Alicia’s languid, soulful vocal. This proves the perfect way to close One Way featuring Al Hudson.

Although One Way featuring Al Hudson only featured six tracks, not only was it a taste of what they were capable of, but what lay ahead. While One Way featuring Al Hudson was the newly founded group’s debut album, One Way were far from musical novices. Granted they were hardly veterans, but they’d previously recorded four albums. So, One Way were an experienced, accomplished and talented group.  Indeed, their experience shines through on One Way featuring Al Hudson. In Al Hudson and Alicia Myers, One Way were fortunate enough to have two talented vocals. Each had their own unique and memorable style. As for One Way’s rhythm section, they provided the heartbeat of each of the six songs. Locking into a groove, they were capable of switching between soul, funk, jazz and dance music. This isn’t easy, but One Way managed it. It also provided a successful start to the newly founded group’s career. 

It’s this combination of talented personnel, versatility and eclectic mix nature of the music on One Way featuring Al Hudson that resulted in the album’s commercial success. That’s not forgetting,  some strong songs and tight production. Everything it seemed was in place for One Way featuring Al Hudson to be a commercial success, possibly an even bigger commercial success than it was. Sadly, that wasn’t the case. Possibly, the winds of musical change that were blowing through American music were to blame. Either that,  or that One Way featuring Al Hudson was just too eclectic. It was neither a soul, funk nor a dance album. It was a bit of each musical genre. Whatever the case, at least One Way hadn’t hitched a ride on disco’s bandwagon. If they had, their career would’ve been somewhat short-lived.  Instead, it was just the first step in an eleven album career. 

Not many groups are as versatile as One Way featuring Al Hudson were. This was crucial, allowing them to enjoy the longevity that other groups didn’t enjoy. If they’d blindly followed one musical genre, their career could’ve been cut short. This is what happened to groups that hitched a ride on disco’s bandwagon. Instead, One Way’s career lasted eleven albums that were released over a fourteen year period. This included another name to change to One Way and changes in personnel. This included Alicia Myers’ departure from One Way in the early eighties. She was never properly replaced. That’s no surprise, given her undeniable talent. Although she returned towards the end of One Way’s recording career, for 1993s One Way WIth Alicia Myers and Friends, it was too little, too late. The end was neigh for One Way. Rather than One Way, it was Wrong Way. This however, was still to come.

Fourteen years before One Way released their final album, the future looked bright for One Way featuring Al Hudson. Their debut album had been well received and was relatively successful. One Way featuring Al Hudson which was recently rereleased by Purpose Music Vaults, along with four bonus tracks, was the start of One Way’s musical adventure. Soulful, funky, jazz-tinged and dance-floor friendly describes One Way featuring Al Hudson, an intriguing, eclectic album that features ballads, jams and dance tracks filled with poppy hooks, emotion, drama and joy. 

ONE WAY FEATURING AL HUDSON-ONE WAY FEATURING AL HUDSON.