TEDDY PENDERGRASS-TEDDY.
TEDDY PENDERGRASS-TEDDY.
Having left Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes to become a solo singer, things had been going well for Teddy by June 1979, when his third solo album was due for release. His two previous albums Teddy Pendergrass, released in June 1977, had reached number seventeen in the US Billboard 200 and number six in the US R&B Charts, resulting in the album being certified platinum, while Life Is a Song Worth Singing reached number eleven in the US Billboard 200 and number one in the US R&B Charts. Like its predecessor, it too was certified platinum. Could Teddy, his third solo album match the success of his first two albums on its release?
Teddy had been recorded at Sigma Sound Studio, where so many of the great Philadelphia International albums had been recorded. Eight songs were on the album, with four written by Gamble and Huff, including Turn Off the Lights, the most successful single on the album. With Gamble and Huff producing four tracks, Thom Bell two tracks, with Gene McFadden and Sherman Marshall one each, then some of the most talented people at Philadelphia International were working on the album. As if that wasn’t enough, Jack Faith, John Usry Jr., and Dexter Wansel all arranged tracks on Teddy. During 1978 and 1979 the eight tracks were recorded, with M.F.S.B. Mk 2 backing Teddy. Now that the album was recorded, it was due to be released in June 1979.
On its release, it reached number five in the US Billboard 200 and number one in the US R&B Charts. Not only was this Teddy’s most successful chart placing in the US Billboard 200, but it was Teddy’s third US R&B number one album and his third album to be certified platinum. Two singles were released from the album, Turn Off the Lights which reached number forty-eight in the US Billboard 100 and number two in the US R&B Charts, while Come Go With Me reached number fourteen in the US R&B Charts. With a critically acclaimed album and two US R&B hit singles, Teddy had been another successful solo album from Teddy which I’ll now tell you about.
Teddy opens with Come Go With Me, the first of four tracks written and produced byGamble and Huff, with Jack Faith arranging this track. This was the first of two “bedroom ballads,” with Teddy pleading to “come on over to my place tonight, I don’t wanna be lonely,” against a lush backdrop where strings sweep in, flourishes of piano and a slow rhythm section combine with chiming guitars. As the song progresses slowly, horns drench Jack Faith’s beautiful arrangement, with Teddy’s desperate pleas sitting above the arrangement. Not only is it a gorgeous slice of seductive soul, one that puts Barry White and Marvin Gaye in the shade, but it’s one of the album’s finest, smoothest songs.
The same combination of Gamble and Huff writing and producing the track, while Jack Faith arranges it, combine brilliantly again with Turn Off the Lights. Teddy continues in the same vein, with another slow, seductive ballad, where strings are at the forefront of the arrangement as a Hammond wails and the rhythm section combine playing thoughtfully with bursts of drama. Meanwhile, Teddy combines emotion and passion, his vocal six minutes of sexy, sultry, seductive soul. With bursts of rasping horns, a Hammond organ adding atmosphere and drums combining slowly with the sweetest of strings while backing vocals accompanying him, Teddy’s seductive pleas are almost irresistible on this quite brilliant, beautiful bedroom ballad.
After two great songs from the masters, Gamble and Huff, resulting in two of the album’s best tracks, producer Thom Bell and arranger Anthony Bell have a lot to live up to on I’ll Never See Heaven Again. It’s a slow, gentle track shivering strings and chiming guitars combining with the rhythm section and keyboards, while Teddy gives a tender, thoughtful vocal. Here, we see a very different side to Teddy, gone are the seductive pleas and passionate vocals, replaced by a lonely Teddy, having lost the woman he loved. The arrangement combines lush, sad quivering strings combine with guitars while bursts of punchy horns, together with drums, add drama to the sadness and emotion of the track. Later, Teddy delivers a heartfelt and heartbroken vocal, against the saddest of string drenched arrangements.
Sherman Marshall and Darnell Jordan contribute another sad and emotive track All I Need Is You, that requires a powerful and emotive delivery. Accompanied by female backing vocalists who are a tender counterpoint to Teddy’s power, passion and emotion, this contrast in styles works beautifully. They combine against a slow sweeping arrangement, where strings sweep sadly, a piano plays, combining with drums and horns as the arrangement grows. Likewise, Teddy’s vocal grows in power as he desperately pleads with his girlfriend to spend the night with him, while the backing vocalists sing with a subtlety and tenderness. Meanwhile shimmering guitars and lush, strings slowly and sadly combine, providing the saddest of backdrops for an insecure and desperate Teddy.
Side two of Teddy opens with a quite different sounding track If You Know Like A Know co-written by Jerry Cohen with another legendary Philadelphia International duo McFadden and Whitehead. Similarly, Gene McFadden produces the track, and he does an excellent job here. During this really quick track, Teddy really growls and vamps his way through this track while strings swirls and sweep, horns punctuate the track and the funkiest of bass lines accompanies Teddy. With The Jones Girls sweet backing vocals accompanying Teddy, they provide the perfect contrast to Teddy’s rough, growl on this funky stomper. Later, a Hammond organ wails, while strings quiver and shiver, and punchy drums and horns add to the drama. Although very different from all the tracks on side one, this is a hook laden, funk drenched track that’s hugely catchy and sounds fantastic.
Do Me was the third of the four Gamble and Huff penned and produced tracks. It’s another really fast track with a great arrangement from John Usry Jr. Again, the bass plays an important part in the track, it’s fast and funky, with chiming guitars and drums accompanying it, before blazing horns and swirling strings enter. Atop the arrangement, sits a sassy, ballsy vocal from Teddy, full of confidence, as he vamps his way through the vocal. Behind him, strings swirl, flourishes of piano and rasping horns combine to make a brilliant sounding arrangement. What makes this such a stunning track is Teddy’s vocal, John Usry Jr. stomping arrangement Gamble and Huff’s trademark top quality production.
So far, Teddy has been devoid of any poor tracks and with two tracks left, will this continue to be the case? Set Me Free opens with gentle keyboards and a harp combining before hi-hats and slow strings gradually enter, the arrangement suddenly bursting into life into something quite unexpected and dramatic. With searing guitars blazing horns and then Teddy’s sad vocal enters. He’s full of hurt, wanting set free from a relationship gone bad. By now, horns drench the arrangement, while swirling strings and drama laden drums enter. With The Delfonics era horn sound, this could only mean Thom Bell produced the track, and this is indeed the case. Here he arranges and produces the track, and doesn’t let the side down, producing an emotive and dramatic sounding track, that’s a welcome addition to a stunning album.
Completing a run of eight great tracks on one album, no mean feat, given there’s usually one poor track on any album, is the last of the four Gamble and Huff tracks, Life Is A Circle. This track, like the three previous ones, is classic Gamble and Huff, and is a song with a message behind it. The tempo is quicker, with searing guitars, percussion and rhythm section combining with a gentle vocal from Teddy, quickly transformed into almost a roar. Here, Gamble and Huff’s lyrics contain some words of truth and things that we’d do well to remember. They tell us “you can’t respect anybody, until you respect yourself” and “you can’t love somebody until you love yourself.” Teddy almost roars these words of wisdom, against a fast, furious and funky backdrop, where strings swirl, percussion plays an important part, while soaring, searing guitars and the rhythm section combine. It’s a great sounding track, with thoughtful lyrics from Gamble and Huff and a vocal from Teddy full of passion and emotion.
Teddy is almost a track of two sides, with side one full of bedroom ballads and slow, sad songs, while the tempo increases on side two, and things get faster and just a little funky. Interestingly, two of the album’s best tracks open the album Come Go With Me and Turn Off the Lights. In fact, of the four tracks on side one of the album, all of them are very beautiful. With side two opening with another of the track’s highlights, If You Know Like I Know, co-written by Jerry Cohen with McFadden and Whitehead, then this is an equally strong start to side two. The quality keeps up on the two other tracks by Gamble and Huff and hugely sad Thom Bell produced Set Me Free. Overall, side two is quite different from side one, but in its way, just as good. This is an unusual album, with every track as good as the preceding track. There’s no filler here, just eight stupendous slices of the smooth and funky soul music from Teddy Pendergrass, one of the real superstars of soul. Like his first two albums Teddy Pendergrass and Life Is a Song Worth Singing, Teddy was both critically acclaimed and a huge commercial success. His decision to leave Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes was vindicated, and suddenly, Teddy Pendergrass was bigger than Marvin Gaye and Barry White. Indeed, Teddy Pendergrass had come a long way in the first two years of his solo career, which had resulted in two US R&B number one albums and his first three solo albums certified platinum. However, unbelievably, things would get even better in the future, with more gold and platinum discs following and Teddy Pendergrass becoming an even bigger soul superstar than he already was. Standout Tracks: Come Go With Me, Turn Off the Lights, If You Know Like I Know and Do Me.
JAMES BROWN-BLACK CAESAR.
JAMES BROWN-BLACK CAESAR.
Recently, I was listening to Isaac Hayes who recorded one of my favorite Blaxploitation albums Shaft, made me revisit some of my favorite Blaxploitation albums, including Black Caesar, written and performed by James Brown. This was a 1973 Blaxploitation film written and directed by Larry Cohen, which starred Fred Williamson and Gloria Hendry. Interestingly, it was a remake of a 1931 film Little Caesar, which proves that it isn’t just today that the film industry looks to the past for inspiration. James Brown provided the soundtrack for the film, and this was the first time James had written a film soundtrack. With this being his first soundtrack, James had to rely heavily upon his bandleader Fred Wesley. He co-wrote seven of the eleven tracks on the album, which also featured Lynn Collins. Later in 1973, a sequel was released, Hell Up In Harlem, but this time, Fonce Mizell and Freddie Perren were responsible for the music. Black Caesar was the first of a trio of Blaxploitation films James Brown where James Brown contributed the soundtrack, the others being The Payback and Slaughter’s Big Rip-off. However, before I tell you about the music, I’ll give you a short synopsis of the movie’s plot.
Tommy Gibbs is a young boy growing up in Harlem and as a child, his leg is badly broken when he’s assaulted by a racist white policeman, when a pay-off goes bad. After this brutalization, he’s drawn into a life crime. When he grows up, he performs a freelance hit to attract the attention of Mafia crime bosses. This leads to Tommy joining a New York mafia family. Eventually, he becomes the head of a black criminal gang in Harlem. His criminal syndicate gets involved in a gang war with a gang of Italian mobsters in New York, and eventually, Tommy starts to build a criminal empire. After this, Tommy falls for a gorgeous black woman, Helen, and eventually, he ends up marrying her. In the film, Tommy Gibbs is played by Fred Williamson while Helen is played by Gloria Hendry. All the action in the film is played out against a backdrop of James Brown’s funk drenched soundtrack.
The soundtrack to Black Caesar had been recorded in various American cities during a hectic schedule for James Brown, Fred Wesley and The JBs. Joining James and The JBs were joined by a woodwind and string section, which added to the difficulties in recording the album. Once recording was finished, Black Caesar was released in February 1973. Critics loved the album, with i being critically acclaimed. Two singles were released from the album, with Down and Out reacing number thirteen in the US R&B Charts and number fifty in the US Billboard 100, while Lynn Collins reached number thirty-seven in the US R&B Charts. With these two tracks and nine others, Black Caesar is thirty-six minutes of music that helped James Brown gain the title “The Godfather of Soul.”
Black Caesar opens with Down and Out In New York City, the only track which James Brown wasn’t involved in writing. Instead, it was co-written by Bodie Chandler and Barry De Vorzon. It’s a combination of percussion and funky rhythm section that combine with James’ powerful, angry vocal. Blazing horns punctuate the arrangement, and later, a flute floats above the arrangement, while an emotive and frustrated James howls and hollers his way through the track. With explosive drums adding to the drama, combining with the punchy horns that are almost ever-present, James sings of the hardship and poverty encountered by the young Tommy in the film. This angry, blazing track sees James Brown at his best, backed by the brilliant JBs, and together they produce a driving slice of funky music.
The JBs do what they do best in Blind Man Can See It, a short instrumental track, when they lock into the funky, yet laid back groove. The rhythm section and chiming guitars combine, before subtle keyboards enter. It’s an almost simplistic, but mellow groove they produce, showcasing their considerable talents, on a track that’s laid back, catch and very different from its predecessor. However, it’s still got that vital ingredient, funk.
Again, there’s an almost subtle, laid back sound, with a meandering introduction to Sportin’ Life mixing elements of jazz, soul-jazz and funk. It’s just the rhythm section and percussion that combine before gentle keyboards enter. Then, woodwind and horns braying join the arrangement, with the horns and organ combining to grow the arrangement. This moves the track from its previous jazzy sound, via soul-jazz and towards elements of funk music. By now the organ and horns are driving the track along, firmly responsible for its stunning, slightly laid back sound. This isn’t The JBs producing a dirty slice of funk, instead, its a track with its roots in jazz music, demonstrating their versatility and talents as musicians, on one of the best tracks on Black Caesar.
From one excellent track to another with Dirty Harri, written by James Brown is a dark, moody track where muted rasping horns and a wailing Hammond organ, combines with a dramatic rhythm section. For little over a minute and a half, this moody, pulsating track enters your life, leaving a brilliant musical memory. It’s a pity that the track wasn’t longer, much longer, giving the listener the chance to revel in its moody genius.
The Boss sees the return of James Brown on one of his classic tracks. Here, there’s some great interplay between himself and The JBs, with the chiming guitars, driving rhythm section and punchy, rasping horns all playing their part. Each take their turn in helping the Godfather of Funk shine, feeding off his energy, as the song develops. From there, it just gets so much better, The JBs almost daring each other, to take things higher, develop the groove they’re locked into. This they do, the result is a hook laden, hugely catchy slice of funk, with James Brown strutting and vamping his way through three minutes of fabulous funky music.
Side one of Black Caesar closes with Make It Good Yourself, a fast and furious funky track. This is easily the funkiest track on the album, with James howling, groaning and hollering his way through a track where a driving rhythm section, searing guitars and blazing, braying horns accompany him. It’s almost impossible to keep up with The JBs, and even James Brown struggles as the track quickens, Somehow he manages to keep up with relentless tempo, but only just.
Lynn Collins backed by The JBs opens side two of Black Caesar, with a song she cowrote with James Mama’s Dead, a song that gave her a number thirty-seven US R&B hit single. As the track opens it’s a gentle, but drama laden introduction that you hear, with the rhythm section, guitar and keyboards accompanying a heartbroken Lynn. Horns rasp and woodwind gently enter as the arrangement slowly unfolds. Strings lush and sad, sweep in, as Lynn gives one of the most emotive and realistic portrayals of grief you’ll ever hear. Her performance is stunning, especially when sung against the dramatic, yet understated arrangement.
After the most moving and heartfelt song on the album, comes White Lightning (I Mean Moonshine), another laid back and catchy sounding track. It’s unusual combination of instruments that the track features, but has a fairly orthodox introduction, when guitars chime and shimmer as the rhythm section play slowly. It’s only when the keyboards, rasping horns and swirling strings combine, that you begin to hear a slightly unusual sounding arrangement unfold. Add to this woodwind, then blazing horns and it’s quite a strange combination, but one that somehow works, resulting in an unusually catchy and pretty laid back track.
All that changes on Chase where the tempo is much quicker, the track literally bursting into life with blazing, howling, dramatic horns signaling the track’s opening. From there percussion, horns and the rhythm section simulate chase, albeit one with a dramatic and funky soundtrack. Mostly the track is really quick, which occasional pauses at the start. After that, at breakneck speed The JBs combine bursts of dramatic horns with chiming guitars, a driving rhythm section and percussion to brilliantly provide the soundtrack to any Chase.
Black Caesar closes with a hugely sad vocal from James on Like It Is, Like It Was. Full of regret and feeling blue he’s accompanied by a piano that plays a huge part in the track’s success, while a thoughtful rhythm section and bursts of shimmering guitars combine. This is perfect for the heartache and emotion in James’ voice, allowing his voice to take centre-stage. The piano throws in some jazzy licks, while the track meanders along, before James sings refrains from the opening track, vamping it up, and getting in on the jazz theme, as the track closes. This jazz tinged track is a lovely way to end the album, introducing and allowing the listener to hear a very different side to James Brown and his music.
Although Black Caesar is deemed a James Brown album, James only really features on four of the tracks on the album. The JBs feature on all of the tracks, with Lynn Collins giving one of the most heartfelt vocals on Mama’s Dead, one of the album’s highlights. James Brown however, played an important role in the album, co-writing ten of the tracks and producing the album. This was his first foray into writing a film soundtrack, and as such, is an excellent attempt. Much as I like Black Caesar, I’ve always thought that The Payback was a much better soundtrack, even though it wasn’t used in the film. However, Black Caesar has much to commend it, with some funky grooves sitting next to jazz licks with The Godfather of Funk howling, hollering and vamping his way through the album. With Fred Wesley his ever trusted bandleader co-writing much of the album, Black Caesar, like The Payback are two must have albums for either lovers of Blaxploitation soundtracks or fans of funk music. Standout Tracks: Sportin’ Life, The Boss, Mama’s Dead and Like It Is, Like It Was.
JAMES BROWN-BLACK CAESAR.
ISAAC HAYES-HOT BUTTERED SOUL.
ISAAC HAYES-HOT BUTTERED SOUL.
As someone who is a huge fan of the Stax record label, I’ve always loved the music of Isaac Hayes. He was one of the creative forces behind Stax, writing many of the songs for many artists on the label, many with David Porter, one of his songwriting partners. Not only was he a writer, but he played on many of the labels biggest hits and produced numerous singles and albums. His other role at Stax was that of solo artist, releasing six solo albums, of which Hot Buttered Soul was the second, released in June 1969. However, after the commercial failure of his debut solo album Presenting Isaac Hayes, released in 1968, Isaac’s career as a solo artist was very nearly short lived. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case, and from Hot Buttered Soul in 1968, until Joy in 1973, Isaac Hayes released a total of six consecutive top ten US R&B albums, the first five of which reached number one.
After Presenting Isaac Hayes failed to chart in 1967, and was a commercial failure, Isaac Hayes very nearly had one of the shortest recording careers in history. With members of Booker T and The MGs backing him, he’d recorded five songs, including two original tracks, one he wrote himself, Precious, Precious and another with David Porter You Don’t Know Like I Know. After the album’s failure, Isaac’s career looked short lived, but when Stax lost all of its back catalogue whilst trying to breakaway from Atlantic Records, this gave Isaac a chance to redeem himself. With no back catalogue to rely upon, all Stax artists were asked to record new material. This included Isaac, and what followed was one of his most successful albums, Hot Buttered Soul, the first of six hit albums.
Hot Buttered Soul was one of twenty-seven albums and thirty singles Stax released at once. Almost instantly, this gave the label a new back catalogue. The album had been recorded during the first half of 1969 at two studios, Ardent Studios in Memphis and Tera Shirma in Detroit. With The Bar-Kays backing him, Isaac recorded just four songs, two of them many people would be familiar with. One was a version of Bacharach and David’s Walk On By and the other a cover of Jimmy Webb’s By the Time I Get To Phoenix. While Isaac and The Bar Kays cut the four tracks, Isaac, Al Bell, Marvel Thomas and Allen Jones produced the album. However, this time Isaac had been granted total creative control, unlike his debut album Presenting Isaac Hayes. Al Bell agreed to this, and the four songs that were recorded demonstrated a very different side to Isaac. Not only that, but the production and engineering process was quite different, so much so, that the album influenced many other musicians, across the musical genres. From Motown, hip hop and soul, many other artists and producers were influenced by the production process on Hot Buttered Soul. This included the use of pre-delay reverberation technique which had originally been used in the late fifties at Columbia by Artie Fields. Although much of the album had been recorded in Memphis, the strings and horns were recorded in Detroit, at the United Sound Studios. Once the album was finished, it was scheduled for release in June 1969. Would it fare better than Isaac’s debut album Presenting Isaac Hayes?
When Hot Buttered Soul was released in June 1969, it was met by critical acclaim. This bode well for its release. On Hot Buttered Soul’s release, it reached number one in the US R&B Charts and number eight in the US Billboard 200. Two singles were released from the album, Walk On By with reached number thirteen in the US R&B Charts and number thirty in the US Billboard 100. This was followed by By the Time I Get To Phoenix which reached number thirty-seven in both the US R&B and US Billboard 100. However, after the success of Hot Buttered Soul, Isaac must have felt vindicated at his decision to assume creative control of his second album, and probably more than a little relieved. Little did he know this was just the start of a musical journey that saw him release five consecutive number one US R&B albums.
Isaac’s next album was the Isaac Hayes Movement released in March 1970. Like its predecessor, it reached number one in the US R&B Charts and number eight in the US Billboard 200. Later in 1970, in November, Isaac released his second album of the year To Be Continued. It too reached number one in the US R&B Charts and number eleven in the US Billboard 100. However, 1971 would see Isaac release two of his most influential and successful albums.
The first of the two album Isaac released in 1971 was the soundtrack to the classic Blaxploitation movie Shaft. This reached number one in both the US R&B and Billboard 200 charts, as well as winning four Grammy Awards and one Oscar. As if this wasn’t good enough, Black Moses was released in November 1970, reaching number one in the US R&B Charts and number ten in the US Billboard 200. However, Isaac who was a Christian, felt the title was sacrilegious, and was somewhat uncomfortable with the title. This came about when Stax executive Dino Woodward nicknamed Isaac Black Moses. Later, when writer Chester Higgins helped popularise the title, Isaac grew to like the nickname, believing it to be a badge of pride. After this hugely successful year, could Isaac keep up his run of number one albums?
Joy was released in 1973, and was the album that broke Isaac’s run of number one US R&B albums, stopping just short of top spot at number two, while reaching number sixteen in the US Billboard 200. This was also Isaac’s last album for Stax, leaving the label in September 1974. However, between 1969 and 1973, Isaac had released some of his most important and memorable work, including Hot Buttered Soul which I’ll now tell you about.
Hot Buttered Soul opens with Isaac’s cover of Bacharach and David’s Walk On By. However, when they originally wrote the song, they never expected it to be transformed like this. It’s a meandering twelve minute epic, with a Hammond organ, slow rhythm section and the lushest of strings swirling dramatically as the song opens. They give way to a searing guitar solo, before dramatically, the song is allowed to breath, a sense of spaciousness to enter. Gradually, the song builds, the searing guitar exiting before Isaac’s sad sounding rasping vocal enters, with sweet sounding backing vocalists accompany him. Again, space and drama are comfortable bedfellows, before a return of the guitar, while a flute floats high above the arrangement, and The Bar-Kays punctuate the track with bursts of drama. Later, the strings sweep in, before swirling grandly, adding to the sense of sadness and drama. Horns sit far back in the mellow sounding, meandering arrangement, as Isaac pleads “Walk On By,” accompanied by the backing vocalists. For twelve minutes this drama and emotion gradually reveals itself, growing and growing, until it reaches an impressive, dramatic crescendo, laden in emotion and sadness. With strings swirling, searing, soaring guitars and the rhythm section combining brilliantly as they lock into a groove that results in a stunning prolonged jam, where they feed off each other, you realize that this is well worth the wait. Although it’s taken over eleven minutes to get here, this makes it all worthwhile. Then, as if spent, drained of all energy and emotion, the track peaks and meanders to its fantastic finale. Wow, what a journey.
Following the stunning Walk On By, comes Hyperbolicsylabicesquedalymistic arguably one of the longest song titles ever. What follows is very different from the previous track combining deep soul and encompassing a variety of musical genres including krautrock. As a piano gently plays as the track opens, things change drastically quickly, with The Bar-Kays launching into the funkiest of grooves. Repeatedly, they play the same groove again, but never exhausting its hugely catchy sound. Meanwhile Isaac sings the lyrics, his voice sounding gruff, while the backing vocalists provide a contrast. His still soulful voice and the funk licks laid down by the band combine perfectly, as the guitars, bass and drums head into unchartered territory. With a piano accompanying Isaac’s grunts and hollers, a repetitive groove is explored thoroughly. There’s a jazz feel and influence present, combining with the soul and funk. With the constant repetition by the band, especially Isaac’s piano playing and the rhythm section, the result is almost hypnotic, giving it a real krautrock feel. However, this sounds quite wonderful and after the nine and a half minutes when the song ends, you’re almost disappointed. You find yourself wanting the song to continue, this hypnotic groove to build and build, so good it is. Sadly, like all good things, it has to end. However, this isn’t just good, it’s stunning. Amazingly, after just two songs, side one of Hot Buttered Soul is over.
Side two of Hot Buttered Soul opens with One Woman written by Charles Chalmers and Sandra Rhodes. By the standards of this album, this is just a short song, only five minutes long. This is probably the most “traditional” sounding arrangement on the album, opening with a gentle piano combining with a slow, thoughtful bass and chiming guitars that accompany Isaac’s tender, emotive vocal. Woodwind and shivering strings enter, combining beautifully with Isaac’s vocal. Behind him, his backing vocalists subtly accompany him, but later, add to the song’s emotion and drama. As the song progresses, it builds and builds, with Isaac torn between the two women in his life. Grand strings combine with sad strings, drums and piano to take the song in a dramatic direction. This results in a combination of a moving and powerful vocal from Isaac and a beautiful, yet drama laden arrangement.
Hot Buttered Soul kept its epic track for last, with Isaac’s version of Jimmy Webb’s By the Time I Get To Phoenix an eighteen minute epic, which is stripped bare and transformed by Isaac to something quite spectacular and ultimately brilliant. With a wailing Hammond organ subtly playing and combining with hi hats while Isaac Hayes launches into his “lover man’s” rap. After nearly two minutes, he announces he’ll interpret By the Time I Get To Phoenix. His half-spoken vocal is sultry, smooth as he talks about the song, the anticipation builds, you can’t wait to hear how he’ll approach the song, what twist he’ll give it. All the time, the Hammond wails sympathetically, just one note repeatedly playing, as Isaac tells the story of a besotted man and woman who used, abused and cheated on him. He gave her everything she wanted and desired, but still she cheated on him, time after time. With just the Hammond and hi hats accompanying him, Isaac has stripped the song down to the bare bones. This works really well, is really powerful and by the time the song opens out, with swirling strings entering joining the drums and Isaac’s vocal. Woodwind enters, a piano joins the arrangement, before horns blaze in the emotion and sadness building. It’s a total transformation of Jimmy Webb’s song, turned into something quite amazing and very powerful. By now the song is laden with emotion and passion, the arrangement getting even better. Horns, lush strings and a wandering piano combine with the hugely sad, wailing Hammond as the song heads to the finish. Isaac has built up the drama and emotion, as punchy drums, braying horns, swathes of strings and a screaming Hammond all combine, before the arrangement settles down, only to rebuilds as it heads to a dramatic and dynamic crescendo.
Although Hot Buttered Soul has only four songs on the album, they’re four amazing pieces of music. With Isaac Hayes assuming creative control, he was able to drive his music in the direction he chose. This was the path he chose for his music, where he combined elements of jazz, soul, funk and even rock and what became known as krautrock. It’s a melting pot of styles and influences, that when combined, by Isaac Hayes resulted in four stunning pieces of music. That he was given the opportunity to record this album, was all down to chance. If Stax had managed to win control of their back catalogue from Atlantic, then Isaac would’ve returned to his role as songwriter, musician and producer. By a twist of fate, they lost their battle, and Isaac Hayes recorded the first of six hugely successful albums, that saw him become one of the biggest names in R&B music. After this, he’d have five consecutive number one albums, with albums like To Be Continued, Shaft and Black Moses. Once he’d left Stax in September 1974, the success he continued to regularly produce quality music, although the chart success he’d enjoyed at Stax was never repeated. In some ways, the music he recorded on Stax was the best and most successful of his career. It wouldn’t be overstating things to call this “vintage” Isaac Hayes, all of which started with Hot Buttered Soul, one of the best album Isaac recorded during his long and illustrious career. If you’ve never heard Isaac Hayes music, Hot Buttered Soul is a good starting point and any of his Stax era music will allow you to hear him at his very best: Standout Tracks: Walk On By, One Woman and By the Time I Get To Phoenix.
ISAAC HAYES-HOT BUTTERED SOUL.
MARVIN GAYE-WHAT’S GOING ON.
MARVIN GAYE-WHAT’S GOING ON.
As someone who spends a lot of my time absorbed in everything related to music, I’ve recently noticed the proliferation of albums that are being repackaged and given the “deluxe” box set treatment and sold as classic albums. To say it’s stretching the truth somewhat calling these albums “classic,” is being kind to the marketing departments of record companies. Often, there’s nothing classic about the albums at all, and are the result of burnt out sixties and seventies icons with very little creativity left in their tanks. Personally, the term classic in relation to most things, not just music, is banded about to loosely. Sometimes, we allow nostalgia and emotions to cloud our judgement, looking through the proverbial “rose tinted spectacles,” when adjudging something classic. Cars that were unreliable and uncomfortable are now perceived as classics. Food that was unhealthy and often almost inedible, is now regarded by nostalgic forty-somethings is seen as classic cuisine. Buildings that previous generations inhabited and were damp, drafty and dangerous to the inhabitants health, are now seen as national treasures, classic architecture that must be cherished and saved for future generations. The same can be said of music. Average albums, albums that were commercial car crashes and music from musicians who could hardly play three chords, never mind come up with a meaningful lyric is now regarded as a classic album. Sometimes you feel the critics and tastemakers have been subjected to mass hypnosis, allowing them to be fooled into giving an unworthy album the classic tag. However, if the truth be known, very few albums actually deserve to be called classics. Many of these will be obvious to many people, and will form part of your record collection, some will be less obvious and others will provoke fierce debate. One album that truly deserves the classic album tag, and whose choice will be undisputed is Marvin Gaye’s seminal concept album What’s Going On, from one of the vintage years for music, 1971.
After the death of his singing partner, Tammi Terrell, from a brain tumor, Marvin Gaye became really depressed. Tammi’s death really affected Marvin, and he was neither willing to record any new music or perform live. He became inconsolable, even considered giving up music for a career in the National Football League. This went as far as Marvin having an unsuccessful trial for the Detroit Lions, his local football team. This however, was always doomed to failure, but not long after, Marvin would have a chance meeting that would help him out of the deep depression he was in.
This meeting in March 1970 was with two familiar faces, musician Al Cleveland and Renaldo “Obie” Benson of The Four Tops. They’d been working on a track called What’s Going On, which was a socially conscious slice of soul, with a political theme. Marvin started working on the song, which was originally meant for another Motown act The Originals. Once the song was finished, Al and Renaldo managed to convince Marvin to record the song.
Recording of What’s Going On and another song Marvin had written God Is Love, was in in June 1970. The recording of What’s Going On and God Is Love saw Marvin’s music move in a very different direction. There was a spiritual side to Marvin’s music, very different from his usual radio friendly Motown sound. This departure and change in sound didn’t please Berry Gordy Jr. the Motown CEO and also, Marvin’s brother-in-law. Not only did he object to the music, but refused to release the tracks. However, realising that there were several precedents where other Motown artists had release music with either a political or socially conscious theme. Marvin cited as precedents Edwin Starr’s War, Stevie Wonder’s Heaven Help Us All and The Temptations Ball of Confusion, Berry Gordy Jr. refused to reconsider his decision, with Marvin airing his grievance in Rolling Stone magazine. Eventually, Berry conceded defeat, deciding to release What’s Going On as a single, thinking the single would sink without trace. However, he was wrong, very wrong.
When What’s Going On was released as a single, it became the fastest selling single in Motown’s history reaching number one in the US R&B Charts and number two in the US Billboard 100. It spent five weeks at number one in the US R&B Charts, and was just a taster of what would happen when future singles and the album was released.
After the success of the single What’s Going On, Berry Gordy Jr. completed a u-turn, asking Marvin to record a whole album. Having won his battle with Berry, Marvin headed into the studio, recording the album at two studios, the United Sound Studios in Detroit, and the Sound Factory in Los Angeles. Using the Funk Brothers as his backing group, with full string, woodwind and brass sections used throughout What’s Going On, nine tracks were recorded. The recording sessions took place in June 1970, when What’s Going On and God Is Love were recorded, while the other seven tracks were recorded between March and May 1971. Having used what was a huge amount of musicians and backing singers during the recording sessions, Marvin had managed to achieve the sound he wanted. The final hurdle would be mixing the album. This took place in Detroit, without Marvin being present. However, when he heard the mix, it was scrapped, with another mix done in Los Angeles. This was the mix that can be heard on the album. Now that What’s Going On had been recorded and mixed, all that was left was for the album to be released.
On What’s Going On’s release, the critics loved Marvin Gaye’s concept album, with Rolling Stone naming it “Album of the Year,” while Billboard gave it their prestigious “Trend Setter” award. Every other critic praised Marvin Gaye’s new sound, loving the sound and the album’s theme. This was soul with a social conscience, exploring a wide range of social and political issues, some of which were personal for Marvin. The album is seen through the eyes of a Vietnam veteran, returning home from the war. All around him, all he can see the bedfellows of unfairness and injustice, while pain and suffering and conflict and hatred haunted his country, the country he’d risked his life for. This leads him to wonder what has happened, and was his sacrifice worthwhile. Bewildered, he wonders “What’s Going On?” Each of the nine songs are like a song cycle, one leading into another, with the various social and political issues explored. Having won over the critics, could Marvin win over his fans?
Released on 21 June 1971, What’s Going On was a huge success, reaching number six in the US Billboard 200 and number one in the US R&B Charts, where it spend nine weeks. Following this success, the second single from the album was released. This was Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology), released in June 1971, which reached number four in the US Billboard 100 and number one in the US R&B Charts, spending two weeks at number one. The final single from What’s Going On was Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler), released in September 1971. Like the two previous singles, it reached number one in the US R&B Charts, where it spent two weeks, as well as reaching number nine in the US Billboard 100. With three number one US R&B singles and a number one US R&B album that was certified platinum by the end of 1972, having sold over two million copies, Marvin Gaye was about to enter one of the most successful periods of his career, which would see Trouble Man, Let’s Get It On, I Want You and Here, My Dear all recorded between 1973 and 1978. However, that was still to come, and now I’ll tell you what What’s Going On sounds like and explore the themes of this concept album.
What’s Going On opens with the title track What’s Going On, which was written after Renaldo “Obie” Benson witnessed a group of anti-war protesters being brutalized by the police. Disgusted and disturbed by the police’s actions, Renaldo was spurred to write a song dealing with police brutality and as the song says “picket lines, picket signs.” When the song was completed by Renaldo, Al Cleveland and Marvin, it was a hugely powerful and moving piece of music. With that familiar combination of background conversation and wailing, protesting saxophone that gives way to Marvin’s gentle, thoughtful vocal, the song unfolds. With the lushest of strings, combining with backing vocals, James Jamerson’s masterful bass line, prominent, punchy drums and horns, this beautiful yet powerful song sees Marvin combine passion, frustration and emotion as he asks What’s Going On. The arrangement just meanders and sweeps along, with so many subtleties and nuances revealing themselves, and the combination of instruments seemingly combining brilliantly to make what bassist James Jamerson described as a masterpiece. This was a personal song for Marvin, as his brother had fought in Vietnam, and witnessed horrific events. Seen through the eyes of a returning soldier, the scenes witnessed by Renaldo, he must have questioned what kind of freedom had he been fighting for when in his own country, free speech and peaceful protest wasn’t being allowed.
After What’s Going On, the album segues effortlessly to What’s Happening Brother, a song that deals with a soldier returning home after a three year tour of duty to discover that the world is a very different place, and the his life is very different. Marvin who cowrote the song with James Nyx based the song on his brother’s experience. With soaring backing vocals and a wandering bass line, horns briefly blaze as Marvin sings “war is hell,” and goes on to describe the problems encountered by the returning soldiers. No job, no money and traumatized, they struggle to adapt to their new life. With the rhythm section, sweeping strings and backing vocalists key to the song’s success, a bewildered sounding Marvin gives a heartfelt rendition of the lyrics, against a smooth, almost lush sounding arrangement. He uses the song and his vocal, to speak for those who having returned home, were betrayed by their country, abandoned and left to fend for themselves. Marvin acts as their voice leaves you feeling sad, angry and frustrated.
Flying High (in the Friendly Sky) deals with heroin addiction, with Marvin giving a lazy, dreamy falsetto vocal that sounds sympathetic to the subject matter. Behind him, the arrangement is quite different, lacking some of the smooth, polished sound of the preceding tracks.There’s darkness to the broody arrangement, confusion not far away. The rhythm section play an important part in the arrangement, drums adding drama, while the meandering bass combines with percussion and sad sounding strings. Horns punctuate the arrangement as cymbals crash in crescendos, while Marvin sings of the temporary escape from reality heroin brings. He sings of the pain of being hooked and without the drug, while describing the heroin high in an almost stoned sounding, lazy falsetto. You always feel the arrangement will veer towards the discordant, when the high wears off. This is what the song sounds like, a stoned Marvin on a heroin high, while behind the arrangement is dark, broody and confusing like the world itself. Sadly, whilst in Vietnam, many soldiers became addicted to the drug, and continued to become addicted once they returned home, desperate to seek an escape to the horrors they witnessed. This song tells their story, and what would become their next battle, the battle with heroin. Marvin again, tells their story, but although he graphically describes the high, he tells of the pitfalls, warns of the addiction and cravings that the addict goes through. In doing so, it becomes almost an anti-drugs song. Not for Marvin irresponsible glorification, instead graphically telling the truth, during a compelling track.
Save the Children was one of the singles released from the album, and features a moving spoken word vocal from Marvin. The song follows up the theme of What’s Going On, which was about love, whilst here, he sings about loving children. Two versions of the song were recorded, one with Marvin singing, the other with a spoken word vocal. Against a dramatic backdrop where backing vocals, strings and the rhythm section combine, Marvin speaks one line, but sings the next. This is hugely effective and beautiful, with the lyrics thoughtful and intelligent. The arrangement grows, with percussion, drums, horns and backing vocals joining piano and swirling strings to provide a fittingly beautiful, yet dramatic backdrop for Marvin’s hugely emotive and passionate vocal.
God Is Love is one of the first songs recorded for the album, being the B-side of the single What’s Going On. It was rerecorded for the album, and transformed into something very different from the string drenched original. Instead, it was turned into a joyous, uptempo track, with piano, lush strings and the rhythm section accompanying a thankful Marvin, while he’s accompanied by backing vocalists. They help Marvin transform the track into a celebratory, song of thanksgiving for God and his love. Although not even two minutes long, it’s a beautiful, joyous track that reveals Marvin’s spiritual side.
The final song on side one of What’s Going On is one of the album’s highlights Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology), another of the singles released from the album. This became one of Marvin’s most popular songs, with the melancholy lyrics about the damage to the environment. Here, Marvin’s vocals are multi-tracked, while he plays piano and is accompanied by the lushest strings, conducted by Paul Riser. With Wild Bill Moore’s saxophone solo drifting above the gorgeous, smooth arrangement it’s easily one of the album’s highlights. Adding to the song’s beauty are flourishes of subtle chord changes on the piano, while Marvin’s whispered backing vocals accompany his lead vocal which is full of pain and hurt at the devastation and destruction he’s witnessed. Those lush, wistful, melancholy strings combining with saxophone and soprano backing vocalist add just the final touch to this hauntingly beautiful, sad song.
Side two of What’s Going On opens with Right On, a very different song to the previous one. A flute, jazz tinged piano and drama laden funky rhythm section combine to give the track a Latin flavor. With Martin’s pained vocal sitting atop the arrangement, as he almost preaches how “love can conquer hate anytime,” this percussive heavy track gradually reveals itself. As the track mixes lush strings, jazz piano and Latin flavors, Marvin goes on to advise his friend “to live where love is King.” By now the track has built and built, but quickly the momentum that’s built up gives way to a slow, sweeping break, before a blazing saxophone breaks loose. This development is hugely impressive, as swathes of sumptuous smooth, then catchy driving rhythms reveal their charms and beauty, before the track closes, giving way to the next brilliant track.
That is Wholly, Holy a slow, string laden lush track, with Marvin singing about love and Jesus, revealing Marvin’s spiritual side. As he gives a heartachingly beautiful vocal, horns howl above the arrangement, while strings sweep and the bass wanders along. Taken together, this is a beautiful and really effective combination, especially the sincerity in Marvin’s pained vocal.
What’s Going On closes with Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler), the third of the three singles released from the album, all of which made number one in the US R&B Charts. The song paints a bleak picture of the poverty and economic chaos of the American ghettos, where many former Vietnam veterans ended up living. During the song, Marvin tells us how bleak and desperate the situation was, and how it should make everyone want to “holler” at the horror and desperation faced by everyone. On this laid back funky track, Marvin plays piano, while members of the Funk Brothers collaborate. A piano opens the track, repeating the same refrain, while rhythm section and percussion accompany Marvin’s haunting vocal, as he despairingly paints a bleak picture of poverty and suffering. Swirling, grand strings enter, adding to the haunting sound. Quickly, Marvin and his band settle into a laid back, funk tinged groove, as the song wanders along, with Marvin hollering in despair. The arrangement grows to an almost imposing sound and feel, with horns rasping. You almost expect them to howl sympathetically in pain, but they never do. Just before the end of the track, the familiar yet slightly haunting strains of What’s Going On can be heard, as this powerful, yet bleak song comes to its sad conclusion. How the returning soldier at the heart of this concept album feels returning to a poverty stricken ghetto, after three years risking his life, fighting someone else’s war, remains unsaid, but I’m sure we can guess how he feels. Sad, angry and betrayed probably wouldn’t even begin to describe it.
Having spent some time listening intently to the nine hugely powerful songs on What’s Going On, I come away adoring this album even more. Since I first heard this album, I was deeply moved, with music provoking a number of emotions and reactions. One of them is the futility of war, and how ordinary men and women suffer and make the ultimate sacrifice, fighting someone else’s war. Often, they neither agree nor understand what they’re fighting for. Other emotions are anger and frustration at how badly we treat people after they’ve risked their lives for our freedom. That one album, What’s Going On, can provoke these emotions and thoughts is testament to Marvin Gaye, and everyone who there at the genesis of what became What’s Going On. This is not only a deeply sophisticated and thoughtful album, but also one that’s very beautiful. The music not only sounds stunning and has a timeless quality that you only find in classic music. Although, What’s Going On is nearly forty-one, it still sounds as fresh, and is just as relevant in 2012 than 1971. Sadly, the world suffers from the same problems war, poverty, economic problems and drug abuse. Each of these are a blight on society today, like they were in 1971. What’s Going On has aged so well, is still as relevant today, and to me, is one of only a small number of albums that truly deserve the accolade “classic album.” The album has received many awards and much praise over the years, but these plaudits are richly deserved. What’s Going On is one of the greatest albums and most powerful albums ever recorded. Little did Marvin Gaye know it, but he was just about to enter the best and most prolific period of his career. After What’s Going On, Trouble Man, Let’s Get It On, I Want You and Here, My Dear all followed, with each of these albums including some of Marvin’s greatest work. Although it was a long way from the music of his partnership with Tammi Terrell, it forms part of one of the greatest legacies any musician has left behind. That music is there for us all to enjoy and cherish. If you’ve never heard What’s Going On, then this album deserves its place in any record collection, along with the rest of the brilliant music he recorded between 1972 and 1978. Standout Tracks: What’s Going On, lying High (in the Friendly Sky), Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) and Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler).
MARVIN GAYE-WHAT’S GOING ON.
DISCO DISCHARGE-CLASSIC DISCO, DISCO LADIES AND DISCO FEVER USA.
DISCO DISCHARGE-CLASSIC DISCO, DISCO LADIES AND DISCO FEVER USA.
Throughout the history of popular music, various artists and types of music have managed to provoke a variety of reactions. From the release of Billy Haley and The Comets’ Rock Around the Clock in 1955, to the shock and horror that greeted Elvis Presley’s gyrations on American national television, music can provoke reactions and divide opinion. In the UK, both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones provoked controversy during the early part of their career. Some of their antics, controversies and misjudged comments shocked older generations and opinions were divided over their influence on youth culture. Fast forward to the seventies and two very different musical genres played an important role in the decade’s musical history. Punk raised its ugly head around 1976, and quickly, became the latest genre of music to provoke controversy and divide opinion. With its DIY attitude to music, and nihilistic outlook on life, this bleak music reflected an equally bleak time in the UK. Over the Atlantic, one of the most distasteful reactions to music was taking place, the Disco Sucks movement.
After disco had moved from the underground to become a musical phenomenon, sweeping the world along in it its sweet, musical wake, a backlash began. From being one of the most popular types of music, thanks to films like Saturday Night Fever, suddenly the tide turned, and disco was no longer de rigueur. This cumulated in the DIsco Demolition Night in Chicago, when the Disco Sucks movement not only tried to destroy a musical genre, but nearly destroyed the Chicago White Sox’s stadium. This event had started as a supposed “prank,” but manifested itself into something quite distasteful, which reeked of homophobia and racism. Having encouraged locals to bring along disco records to the stadium which would be blown up. The local disc jockey responsible for the event, whipped up the “good ole boys” watching into a distasteful frenzy, before blowing up the pile of discarded records. Disco however, nearly had the last laugh when the “prank” nearly backfired, just about demolishing the stadium and the “good ole boys” watching. However, despite the best efforts of all those involved, and the abandonment of disco by radio stations and the music industry, disco never died. Instead, just over thirty years later from that fateful day, disco is just as popular as ever, with many labels rereleasing some of the brilliant music from that magical time back in the seventies, when disco ruled the airwaves.
One of these labels is Harmless, who during 2009, 2010 and 2011, released the Disco Discharge series. On twelve albums, so far, they’ve revisited some of best disco music ever released. They’ve spilt the music into subsections, with one disc featuring Classic Disco, another Disco Ladies, while Euro Disco, Boogie and some of disco’s hidden gem’s are unearthed by the good people at Harmless. It seems no stone has been left unturned in the pursuit of the best disco music ever recorded. During this article, which will be the first of a series of articles on the Disco Discharge series, I’ll introduce you to some of the compilations, and tell you what awaits the listener on my first three choices from the Disco Discharge series.
DISCO DISCHARGE-CLASSIC DISCO.
Like all the Disco Discharge compilations, the Classic Disco compilation is a two-disc set and does indeed feature some classic disco tracks. Thankfully, the compilers have resisted the urge to feature the usual predictable tracks that grace supposed classic disco compilations. This compilation is something quite different, and sees the compilers dig deeper into the disco archives to find tracks that deserve the tag classic disco. Classic Disco was released in 2009, and features twenty-one full length tracks that are unmixed. Thankfully, the compilers have resisted the urge to release this as a mixed CD, allowing the listener to hear the tracks in their full glory.
Disc One features some great music, with two of my favorites including Cheryl Lynn’s classic Got To Be Real and Rose Royce’s Do Your Dance. This is from Rose Royce’s number one US R&B album Rose Royce II: In Full Bloom, which also reached number nine in the US Billboard 200. The album was produced by Norman Whitfield, and is what I’d refer to as classic Rose Royce.
Another of the highlights has to legendary drummer Idris Muhammed’s Could Heaven Be Ever Be Like This. Of all the tracks on the album, this is one of the curveballs the compilers have thrown. However, the track sits well with the other twenty tracks on the album, and has long been a track that I’ve loved.
Esther Phillips is another legend of music who features on Classic Disco. The compilers have chosen to include the title track of her 1975 album What A Difference A Day Makes, which was one of Esther’s best albums for the Kudi/CTI label, one of her most commercially successful albums, reaching number thirteen in the Us R&B Charts. Her version of What A Difference A Day Makes totally transforms the track, giving it a unique twist with her unique vocal style.
Disc two of Classic Disco sees The Players Association contribute Turn the Music Up, which to me, is one of disc two’s best track. This was the title track from their 1978 album Turn the Music Up, which reached number fifty-four in the UK charts. When the track was released as a single, it reached number eight in the UK and number fifty-nine in the US R&B Charts. How a track of this quality never fared better in America, seems strange. However, it’s given another chance to shine here on Classic Disco
The quality continues with Cerrone’s Look For Love and Glen Adams Affair Just A Groove. One track I particularly like is Don Ray’s epic track Got To Have Loving, which benefits from an excellent arrangement.
Overall, Classic Disco is an album which is packed with some excellent disco tracks. It’s very much a case of it does what it says on the tin. Classic Disco is the title, and that’s what you get. Of the twenty-one tracks on the two discs, the only one that surprised me when I originally bought the album was the inclusion of a Johnny Mathis track. However, when I listened to the track I got a welcome surprise, with the track much better than I’d originally thought. What I do like about this compilation is that the tracks are full length and original versions, not chopped down versions that you sometimes find on similar compilations. If you’re a fan of disco and haven’t discovered the Disco Discharge series, then this is a good place to start.
DISCO DISCHARGE-CLASSIC DISCO.
DISCO DISCHARGE-DISCO LADIES.
During the disco era, many a disco diva was discovered and many other female singers were unexpectedly and suddenly transformed into disco divas. Disco Ladies features some tracks that will be familiar to many people, and few that will take you be surprise. However, they will be a welcome surprise once you hear them. The album combines solo artists and groups, with twenty-one quality tracks from some of the stars of the disco era.
When you listen to disc one of Disco Ladies, you’re in for an aural treat that will soon have you trying to resist the urge to dance along to theses hook laden classics. The disc opens with Fern Kinney’s sweet sounding track Groove Me, while Sister Sledge contribute the irresistible You Fooled Around. It’s from the second album Niles Rogers and Bernard Edwards produced for Sister Sledge, Love Somebody Today, released in 1980. That is one of my favorite tracks from the this album, along with a true classic, Stacy Lattisaw’s hook heavy Jump To the Beat. Add to this diva Lucy Hawkins’ dramatic and sweeping Gotta Get Outta Here and you get an idea of the sheer quality of music on Disco Ladies. One other track that deserves a mention is A Taste of Honey’s sweet and catchy Boogie Oogie, which reached number one in the US R&B and US Billboard 100 charts in 1978. This is just the latest in a line of quality disco tracks on disc one.
Although the first disc is full of classic tracks, this isn’t one of these albums where the second disc disappoints. Often, two-discs sets are top heavy on quality on disc one, while disc two slides into mediocracy. Not here, no way. With Melba Moore’s Pick Me Up, I’ll Dance from her 1978 album Melba. This track was often played by the legendary DJ Larry Levan at the Paradise Garage. With such a pedigree, there’s no higher recommendation.
While many people in the UK will always remember Phyllis Nelson for her 1984 number one single Move Closer, it’s another of her biggest hits that features on Disco Ladies, I Like You. The version included is the excellent Sheb Pettibone Remix. I Like You gave Phyllis’ number one her biggest hit in America, reaching number one in the US Dance Charts in 1985.
Of the other tracks on disc two of Disco Ladies Silver Convention’s Get Up and Boogie (That’s Right) is a true classic, while The Richie Family’s Give Me A Break is one of my personal favourites.
Like Classic Disco, Disco Ladies is a mixture of the familiar and a few surprises. One of the surprises was the inclusion of Janis Ian’s Fly Too High. However, like the Johnny Mathis track on Classic Disco, this works and is a welcome addition. Of the twenty-one tracks, the compilers have managed to keep up the standard throughout the two discs, without letting their standards drop. As someone who has bought many similar compilations over the year, I was really impressed when I first bought the album in 2009. It allowed me to hear some tracks that have long been favourites of mine, alongside some that I wasn’t quite as familiar with. For anyone who loves good quality disco music sung by some of the divas of the seventies, then this is a compilation that’s well worth buying.
DISCO DISCHARGE-DISCO LADIES.
DISCO DISCHARGE-DISCO FEVER USA.
Disco Fever USA was one of the Disco Discharge compilations in 2011, and is absolutely chock full of some delicious disco music. Of all the compilations in the series, this is one that features some of the biggest names of the seventies. This includes Earth, Wind and Fire, Gloria Gaynor and Teddy Pendergrass. Add to this, Fern Kinney, Cissy Houston, Marlena Shaw and Linda Clifford and you’ll see not only how comprehensive and eclectic a compilation this is. In total, there are twenty-two tracks on the two discs, with just one track in particular being a surprising choice, Johnny Mathis’ Original Disco Version of Begin the Beguine seeming a strange track to include. However, apart from that one track, there’s some great music on Disco Fever USA.
Fern Kinney’s Baby sensual Let Me Kiss You opens side one of Disco Fever USA. Although best known for other disco hits Together We Are Beautiful and Groove Me, which features on Disco Ladies, this is another of the former Poppies vocalists best tracks.
Claudja Barry contributes Why Must A Girl Like, with the Tom Moulton Mix used, with its swirling strings and backing vocalists playing an important part in this joyous track.
Cissy Houston, mother of Whitney and aunt of Dee Dee and Dionne Warwick provides one of the best tracks on disc one You’re the Fire. This is very different from Cissy original music with the Sweet Inspirations, when she combined gospel and soul. Although You’re the Fire didn’t replicate the commercial success of her other disco hit Think It Over, it managed to come in second in the 1979 World Popular Song Festival, winning Cissy the Most Outstanding Performance Award.
Although there’s an Earth, Wind and Fire track on the album, Boogie Wonderland, this is an instrumental version of their hit single. The original reached number six in the US Billboard 200 and number two in the US R&B Charts, while it reached number four in the UK. Even without the vocal, the instrumental version of Boogie Wonderland deserves its place here.
Like the first disc, the second disc features some great music, with one of my favorites Teddy Pendergrass’ Life Is A Song Worth Singing. This is the title track from Teddy’s second Philadelphia International album Life Is A Song Worth Singing. It reached number eleven in the US Billboard 200 and number one in the US R&B Charts, being certified platinum having sold over one million copies. Written by the Thom Bell and Linda Creed songwriting partnership, it’s Teddy at his very best.
You could hardly have a series of disco compilations without including one of Gloria Gaynor’s tracks. The one chosen by the compilers is Love Is Just A Heartbeat Away (Nocturna’s Theme). This original disco mix was from the soundtrack to Nocturna, and is an interesting choice of track. Many compilers would choose one of Gloria’s more familiar tracks, either from her Never Can Say Goodbye or an old and tired chestnut like I Will Survive. Thankfully, we’ve been spared another outing of I Will Survive, with this a much more interesting and in my opinion, a much better track. The compilers should be thank for their inventiveness and left-field choice of track.
Another diva to feature on Disco Fever USA is Linda Clifford and her version of If Her Friends Could See Me Now. This was the title track from her 1978 album If Her Friends Could See Me Now, which reached number twenty-two in the US Billboard 200 and number nine in the US R&B Charts. When the track was released as a single, although it only reached number fifty-four in the US Billboard 100 and number sixty-eight in the US R&B Charts, it gave Linda a number one in the US Dance Charts. This was deserved, given the dramatic arrangement that builds and builds, with Linda’s soaring, joyous vocal sitting on top. Of the eleven tracks on disc two, this is one of the highlights.
My final choices from disc two are Slick’s Space Bass and Boys Town Gang’s version of Yester-Me, Yester-You Yesterday, originally recorded by Stevie Wonder on is My Cherie Amour album. Boys Town Gang’s version is quite different but has a gospel tinged sound, with a lovely thoughtful, slightly dramatic vocal. Although it isn’t as quick as some of the songs on the album, it’s quite beautiful and a very welcome addition to Disco Fever USA.
Disco Fever USA is another album crammed full of some quality disco music, with the compilers surpassing themselves yet again. Sometimes, they’ve chosen to eschew the obvious, throwing a few curve balls. Three examples of this are the instrumental version of Earth, Wind and Fire’s Boogie Wonderland, not choosing a more obvious Gloria Gaynor track and the lovely mid-tempo version of Yester-Me, Yester-You Yesterday by Boys Town Gang. Other compilers would’ve stuck to more familiar territory, including the original version of Boogie Wonderland and one of Gloria Gaynor’s better known tracks. Not Harmless, no they’ve thought outside the box, bringing us a compilation that although features some familiar tracks, has a few surprises along the way. With disco divas sitting next to soul superstars and Hi-NRG heroes, Disco Fever USA features some of the magical and majestic disco music that swept America by storm, and not long after, the rest of the world. This compilation gives you the chance to relive these glory days, and prove to the doubters that disco doesn’t suck, and never did.
DISCO DISCHARGE-DISCO FEVER USA.
PHILLY BUSTERS AND SMOOTH GROOVES.
PHILLY BUSTERS AND SMOOTH GROOVES.
Usually around the Christmas and New Year period, you don’t expect to find a series of ten, yes ten great soul compilations to be released. Usually at this time of year it’s a myriad of predictable greatest hits or best of albums from the usual suspects. Add to that the usual TV advertised albums aimed at the casual music buyer, and the pre-Christmas period is hardly inspirational for people who must have their fix of music fifty-two weeks of the years. Post-Christmas is usually the time when various record shops roll out the same “bargains” that they’ve been trying to shift for more years than I care to remember. The same mixture of supposed classic albums, greatest hits compilations and a smattering of unappealing box sets don’t seem to find someone to put them out of their misery and give them a good home. However, this year, was different, when Backbeats released the third installment of their highly successful and quite brilliant series on 26 December 2011.
The Backbeats label is a subsidiary of Harmless Records, who have been releasing quality compilations since 1996. Since then, they’ve released well over one-hundred compilations, with their Pulp Fusion series one of the most consistent and successful compilation series. With music ranging from the numerous funk, soul and breakbeat compilations to Latin and African funk compilations, Harmless dug deeper than many of their competitors, with one quality compilation following the previous one.
Back in 2010, Harmless decided to release the Backbeats series, with the first ten installments of the series being released. The music on the first ten albums ranged from New York Garage, 80s Chicago House and Northern Soul to Breakbeats, Smooth Chicago Soul and Philly Disco. Each of these ten compilations was crammed full of great music, chosen by compiler Ian Dewhirst, who was responsible for the Mastercuts series.
Earlier in 2011, the second installment of the Backbeats series was released. Again, Ian Dewhirst had chosen some wonderful music, with the series including 70s New York Disco, Southern Soul and Crossover Soul to 70s Detroit Soul, 70s Funk and more fantastic Philly Soul. Like the first ten albums, they were well received and sold well. What made the Backbeats series even more appealing was their affordability. Unlike other compilations, which are much more expensive and feature similar music, they’re available for less than £4, or $6. The only difference is that the sleeve-notes aren’t the most comprehensive. However, while other compilations feature more in-depth sleeve notes, what really matters is the music. If people want to know more about the music, there’s plenty of information available on the internet. After the second installment of the series, which not only kept up the quality of the first series, but improved upon it, I was eagerly awaiting the third installment. When I saw they were available on 26 December, I decided to treat myself, a late Christmas present. This I added to the other two batches of albums, so to do the series justice, I’m going to do a series of articles on the compilations. The first of these will focus on the two new compilations which feature The Sound of Philadelphia, Philly Busters and Smooth Grooves. This will augment a previous article on Philly Soul entitled The Philadelphia Sound-Sweet Soul Music which reviewed a number of Philly compilations, including to the two previous Backbeats Philly compilations Philly Disco and Philly Freedom.
PHILLY BUSTERS.
As someone who absolutely adores the The Sound of Philadelphia, and especially the music produced by Gamble and Huff at Philadelphia International Records and Thom Bell at both Philly Groove and Philadelphia International Records, Philly Busters was one the compilations I eagerly awaited. What would be on it? Would there be some rare hidden gems that had been lurking hidden away, in the corners of the Philadelphia International Records archives? Once I received Philly Busters and studied the music on it, I realised that what I’d describe as Philadelphia royalty featured on the album. There are songs from some of the biggest and most successful groups and solo artists that recorded for Philadelphia International. With the groups including The O’Jays, Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, The Stylistics and The Trammps, while solo artists like Billy Paul, Teddy Pendergrass, Lou Rawls and Dee Dee Sharp Gamble all featured, this was quite simply a compilation long on quality and without any filler or poor tracks. To choose seventeen fantastic Philly tracks takes some doing, but compiler Kev Roberts manages to achieve this, and does so with aplomb. Although the casual listener will recognize many of the tracks on the album, they may not recognize The Futures, Anthony White or Don Covay. However, those of us who love the Philly Sound will remember and cherish their music. Choosing the best tracks on Philly Busters isn’t easy, with so many great tracks to choose from, but I’ll mention some of the best and some of my favorites of what are rightly referred to on the album cover as “underground Philly dancefloor gems.”
I’ve always thought that two men who sometimes don’t get the credit for their achievements in the success story that Philadelphia International became. They were Gene McFadden and John Whitehead, who most people will remember for their eight million selling hit single Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now. Not only were they prolific songwriters and producers, but they were successful recording artists, who recorded some wonderful and underrated music. One of their tracks features on Philly Busters, the joyous, uptempo and hugely catchy I Heard It In A Love Song, the title track of their 1980 album. This is one of my favorite tracks on this compilation. Too often, compilers predictably choose the excellent Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now forgetting that Mc Fadden recorded many other great tracks. So to compiler Kev Roberts, a big thank you for putting this track on the album.
Two of Philadelphia International’s biggest groups The O’Jays and Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes feature on Philly Busters. The O’Jays contribute one of the most familiar and beautiful tracks Darlin’ Darlin, Baby (Sweet Tender Love), which is a bona fide Philly Soul classic. It gave The O’Jays the second US R&B number one hit of their career, although strangely, the track only reached number seventy-two in the US Billboard 100. The track was from The O’Jays 1976 album Message In the Music, which reached number three in the US R&B Charts and number twenty in the US Billboard 200. Although this is a track many people will know, its beauty deserves to be heard and shared by as many people as possible.
Another of the biggest groups on Philadelphia International were Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes. Tell the World How I Feel About Cha Baby is from their hugely successful, 1975 album Wake Up Everybody. It gave the group a number one US R&B album, while Tell the World How I Feel About Cha Baby gave them a number seven US R&B hit single. It’s a welcome addition on Philly Busters, and makes a change from the usual Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes tracks compilers gravitate towards.
Three of the biggest solo artists on Philadelphia International feature on Philly Busters Billy Paul, Teddy Pendergrass and Lou Rawls. Billy Paul contributes two tracks, I Trust You and Let The Dollar Circulate. Of the two tracks, my favorite is Let the Dollar Circulate from his 1975 album When Love Is New, which reached number seventeen in the US R&B Charts. It’s a socially conscious slice of soul from Billy and is one of seven fantastic tracks on the When Love Is New album.
With so many great Teddy Pendergrass tracks to choose from, compiler Kev Roberts has chosen When Someone Loves You Back, from Teddy’s number one US R&B album Life Is A Song Worth Singing. Although this wasn’t one of the two singles released from the album, I’ve always thought that When Someone Loves You Back was one of the best tracks on the album and I’m glad that Kev Roberts agrees with me about this.
The third of these solo artists is Lou Rawls, with his Gamble and Huff penned track Groovy People one of the catchiest tracks on the album. It’s from Lou’s 1976 All Things In Time album and when it was released as a single, it gave Lou a number nineteen US R&B hit single. Incidentally, Leon Huff has released a new album Groovy People, which features a new version of this track.
Apart from Billy Paul, Teddy Pendergrass and Lou Rawls, Philly Busters features Jerry Butler, Dee Dee Sharp Gamble and Jean Carn, another trio of successful solo artists on Philadelphia International. The Jerry Butler track (I’m Just Thinking About) Cooling Out is from his hugely underrated 1978 album Nothing Says I Love You Like I Love You. When (I’m Just Thinking About) Cooling Out was released as a single it reached number fourteen in the US R&B Charts. While Jean Carn has two tracks on the album, (No No) You Can’t Come Back Now and Sweet and Wonderful which features Glenn Jones, the Dee Dee Sharp track Happy ‘Bout the Whole Thing is another great dance track, and a worthy successor to the classic Breaking and Entering which featured on Philly Disco.
One of the non-Philadelphia International groups to feature on Philly Busters is The Trammps. Stop and Think from their 1975 album Tammps is chosen. Again, compiler Kev Roberts has resisted the temptation to choose one of their more familiar tracks. After all, everyone has heard Disco Inferno and Hold Back the Night many times on many other compilations, so it’s good to hear something many people won’t be familiar with, unless they happen to own the original album.
Overall, Philly Busters is one of the best Philly Soul compilations I’ve come across recently, and believe you me, I’ve got a number in my collection. Although I’ve only mentioned some of the seventeen tracks, there isn’t a bad track on the compilation. This is no mean feat, considering many compilations on other labels feature just a smattering of quality tracks. That isn’t the case here, with one great track following another. With Philly royalty like Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, The O’Jays, Billy Paul and Teddy Pendergrass just four of the fifteen artists gracing the album, it’s the perfect introduction to some of the wonderful music of The Sound of Philadelphia. Even today, each of the seventeen dance-floor friendly tracks are still guaranteed to fill a dance-floor.
PHILLY BUSTERS.
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SMOOTH GROOVES.
Smooth Grooves is the perfect companion to Philly Busters, and is describes on the album cover as “sophisticated 80s Philly soul, although much of the music was recorded and released during the seventies.” Now connoisseurs of Philly soul may protest and say that the best music coming out of Philadelphia was recorded and released during the seventies. However, that to me, is unfair as even into the eighties, a lot of good and quite underrated music was coming out of “The City of Brotherly Love.” By this time, groups like The Stylistics and The O’Jays may not have been as popular as during their seventies heydays, but they were still producing some quality music. Both groups feature on Smooth Grooves, as do artists like Billy Paul and Lou Rawls. Other familiar faces like Dee Dee Sharp Gamble, Bunny Sigler, Jean Carn and The Jones Girls all feature on Smooth Grooves. However, there are some groups that the casual listener may not have heard of. These include Instant Funk and Silk. Overall, it’s a good combination of familiar and unfamiliar artists, all with one thing in common quality. I’ll now tell you about some of the best tracks on the album.
Three of the biggest groups on the album are The Stylistics, The O’Jays and M.F.S.B. Between them, they’ve sold many millions of albums and during their careers, recorded for Philadelphia International Records. The Stylistics track is Mine All Mine from their 1981 Closer Than Close album. It only reached number 210 in the US Billboard 200 and number forty-four in the US R&B Charts. Despite this, Closer Than Close like Hurry This Way Again and 1982, all feature some fine music, and are a trio of hugely underrated albums from The Stylistics. Sadly, when Mine All Mine was released as a single, this lovely Dexter Wansel and Cynthia Biggs track failed to chart. Regardless of this, Mine All Mine is a good addition to the album by compiler Ralph Tee.
The O’Jays track Lovin’ You on Smooth Grooves is also from one of their later albums, but in 1987, gave the group their first number one US R&B single since Used Ta Be My Girl in 1978. Written by Gamble and Huff, the track was from their 1987 album Let Me Touch You which reached number three in the US R&B Charts and number sixty-six in the US Billboard 200. Like The Stylistics, The O’Jays proved they could still produce quality music into the eighties.
M.F.S.B. were the third of the supergroups that feature on Smooth Grooves. Their track is Tell Me Why from their 1980 album Mysteries of the World. Adding the vocal is Carla Benson, who sung on some of the biggest hits on Philadelphia International, Carla’s vocal can be heard on Billy Paul’s seminal Me and Mrs Jones and McFadden and Whitehead’s Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now. Apart from this, Carla’s voice featured on tracks by The O’Jays, Lou Rawls and Teddy Pendergrass. The M.F.S.B. that feature on the track are the second incarnation of the group, after the original M.F.S.B. left Philadelphia International to become The Salsoul Orchestra. Although the legendary Baker, Harris and Young rhythm section had long gone by the time Tell Me Why was recorded, it’s still a track that deserves to feature on this compilation.
Of the other familiar faces to feature on Smooth Grooves, this includes a trio of male superstars in Billy Paul, Teddy Pendergrass and Lou Rawls. Billy Paul contributes You’re My Sweetness from his 1979 album First Class. This was the last studio album Billy recorded for Philadelphia International, and is an album that’s quite underrated. It’s a beautiful, lush slice of smooth soul from Billy, that to me, is one of the album’s highlights.
Like Billy Paul, Teddy Pendergrass doesn’t disappoint, with the Gene McFadden, John Whitehead and Victor Carstarphen penned Easy Easy, Got To Take It Easy. This is taken from Teddy’s debut solo album Teddy Pendergrass, released in 1977. Reaching number seventeen in the US Billboard 200 and number five in the US R& B Charts. Again, this track is an interesting choice, eschewing the three singles released from the album, including I Don’t Love You Any More and The Whole Town’s Laughing At Me. This beautiful laid back track with a sultry vocal from Teddy is one the seventeen reasons for buying this album.
Lou Rawls contribution to Smooth Grooves is one of the most familiar tracks on the album, the gorgeous Lady Love. It’s from Lou’s 1977 third Philadelphia International album When You Hear Lou, You’ve Heard It All. Lady Love was the biggest hit single from the album, reaching number twenty-four in the US Billboard 100 and number twenty-one in the US R&B Charts. This was the last of Lou’s singles to enter the top thirty in the US Billboard 100. The album fared well, reaching number forty-one in the US Billboard 200 and number thirteen in the US R&B Charts. However, of ten tracks on the album, Lady Love was the best, and is one of the best on Smooth Grooves.
The Philadelphia ladies make their contributions to Smooth Grooves with Dee Dee Sharp Gamble, Jean Carn, Phyllis Hyman and Patti LaBelle all contributing some great tracks. Dee Dee Sharp Gamble’s contribution is the Cynthia Biggs and Dexter Wansel penned track I Believe In Love. This is from Dee Dee’s What Color Is Love album released in 1977. I Believe In Love is easiest one of the most beautiful tracks on the album, and I’m sure that many people will investigate Dee Dee’s music further having heard this stunning track.
Start the Fire is the Jean Carn track on the album, and is from her 1979 album When I Find You Love. This was her third album on Philadelphia International, and like Dee Dee’s track, Jean’s doesn’t disappoint. It has a lovely meandering arrangement and stunning vocal from Jean, and is very different from some of her more dance-floor oriented tracks. Again, this is a welcome inclusion from compiler Ralph Tee.
It seems fitting that Phyllis Hyman who was born in Philadelphia, recorded for the city’s best known label Philadelphia International. She recorded four albums during the period 1986-1998. Set A Little Trap is from the Phyllis’ 1998 album Forever With You, which was released three years after her tragic death. The album only reached number sixty-six in the US R&B Charts. However, Set A Little Trap is a lovely reminder of just how talented a vocalist Phyllis Hyman was.
One of the most experienced vocalists on the album is Patti LaBelle, who contributes the title track of her 1983 album I’m In Love Again. The album reached number forty in the US Billboard 200 Charts and number four in the US R&B Charts, and was certified gold. This track a features a powerful and emotive vocal from Patti and is a contrast to the tracks from Dee Dee and Jean.
Two other artists that played an important part in the Philadelphia International story are The Jones Girls and McFadden and Whitehead. The Jones Girls had previously sang backing vocals on albums by Teddy Pendergrass and Lou Rawls on Philadelphia International before the three sisters Brenda, Valerie and Shirley signed a record contract with Philadelphia International. When I’m Gone is from The Jones Girls’ second album At Peace With Woman. It was written by the Cynthia Bigg and Dexter Wansel songwriting partnership, it’s one of the best tracks on At Peace With Woman and features a great lead vocal from Shirley. Again, it’s an interesting choice of track, as many compilers predictably choose their classic track Nights Over Egypt. By choosing this track, it allows the listener to hear something new from three really talented sisters from Detroit, The Jones Girls.
My final choice from this album is McFadden and Whitehead, who were the first artists I mentioned in my review of Philly Busters. Ralph Tee the compiler, has chosen another classic McFadden and Whitehead track I’ve Been Pushed Aside, from their 1980 debut album McFadden and Whitehead. Of all the tracks on Smooth Grooves, this is by far, my favorite, and demonstrates just how multi-talented the duo were. After all, how many other artists had the talent to write and produce their own music?
Overall, Smooth Grooves is a quality compilation featuring some great music that came out of The City of Brotherly Love. With some of the biggest names in the city’s musical history appearing on the album, this is very much a must have album, like its companion Philly Busters. With The O’Jays, The Stylistics, Billy Paul, Teddy Pendergrass, Dee Dee Sharp Gamble, The Jones Girls and McFadden and Whitehead all featuring on Smooth Grooves, it’s an album that’s too good to miss. It features a combination of tracks that you’ll be familiar with and few you won’t. Unlike many similar combinations it isn’t predictable, instead throwing a few curve balls. Like Philly Busters, I can’t recommend this album enough. It’s crammed full of great music, like the rest of the Backbeats series. if you’ve not got the Backbeats compilations in your collection, there are thirty to collect, all of which could be yours for under £120. That to me, is one the biggest bargains you’ll ever come across. That will allow you to hear some wonderful music from Chicago House, Northern Soul and Deep Soul to New York Garage, Breakbeats and Philly Disco. Hopefully, after listening to Smooth Grooves and Philly Busters, and all the other twenty-eight compilations, you too, will explore much more of the music that features on these compilations. With The Sound of Philadelphia, there’s a treasure trove of brilliant music waiting to be discovered, with many of these classic albums being reviewed on this music blog.
SMOOTH GROOVES.
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TERRY CALLIER-TURN YOU TO LOVE.
TERRY CALLIER-TURN YOU TO LOVE.
Have you ever heard of the soul singer who gave up music for fifteen years to become a computer programmer? This isn’t a joke, this is what happened to Terry Callier back in 1983. Before this, the two albums Terry recorded for Elektra in 1977 and 1978 hadn’t been a commercial success, although they’d been well received by critics. The second of these albums Turn You To Love, had been released in 1978, and was the last album Terry released for twenty years, until Timepeace in 1998.
Before Terry Callier recorded what would become Turn You To Love, he’d released some highly regarded albums for both Cadet and Elektra. Terry’s career started at Cadet Records, a subsidiary company of the legendary Chess Records, where he released a trio of critically acclaimed albums. The first of these Charles Stepney produced albums was Occasional Rain released in 1972. What Color Is Love followed in 1973 and I Just Can’t Help Myself in 1974. Sadly, the albums weren’t a commercial success, and Terry was dropped by Cadet. Adding to Terry’s woes was the closure of the Chicago Songwriters Workshop in 1976. This had been set up by Jerry Butler and Terry had joined in 1970. However, Terry’s luck changed in 1977, when he signed for a new label, Elektra.
During his time at Elektra, Terry only recorded two albums, however, they were two great albums. The first was Fire On Ice, released in 1977 and produced by Richard Evans. On the album Terry wrote four of the nine tracks himself, and four others with songwriting partner Larry Wade. With an all-star band backing him that included Philip Upchurch, Larry Wade, George Bohannon and Eddie Harris, and with Minnie Ripperton singing backing vocals, Fire On Ice was a great sounding album. Although critics loved the album, it failed commercially, and was a disappointing start to Terry’s Elektra career. Would things improve with his next album, Turn You To Love?
Like Fire On Ice, Terry managed to assemble a hugely talented group of musicians to accompany him. Looking through the sleeve-notes, it’s like a list of the great and the good of jazz, soul and funk music. Fred Wesley, James Brown’s bandleader and trombonist features on the album, guitarist Wah-Wah Watson, bassist Keni Burke, saxophonist Ernie Watts and keyboard player Earl Van Dyke, are just a few of the names that played on the album. The album was produced, arranged and conducted by Reginald “Sonny” Burke, while Dr. Don Mizell was executive producer and Larry Wade associate producer.
Again, the Terry Callier and Larry Wade songwriting partnership contributed four tracks for Turn You To Love, one of them with producer Reginald “Sonny” Burke. Terry contributed two tracks, Occasional Rain and Ordinary Joe, both of which had featured on his debut album for Cadet, Occasional Rain. There were two covers versions on the album, one was of Steely Dan’s Do It Again. The other was Still Water (Love) co-written by Smokey Robinson and Frank Wilson. Overall, it was mixture of something new, something borrowed and something blue. However, would Turn You To Love be more successful than its predecessor Fire On Ice?
Sadly, when Turn You To Love was released in 1979, it was a familiar story for Terry, the critics loved the album, but it wasn’t a commercial success. With the benefit of hindsight, disco was king in 1979, and albums by singers like Terry Callier were almost unfashionable. Singers like Bobby Womack, O.V. Wright, Syl Johnson and Ann Peebles suffered the same fate. Like Terry would soon be, Bobby Womack was without a record label, with record labels choosing disco over quality jazz and soul. There was one crumb of comfort for Terry with Turn You To Love, when Sign of the Times provided Terry with the biggest hit single of his career. It was released as a single after DJ Frankie Crocker used it as the theme for his radio show. On its release, it reached number seventy-eight in the US R&B Charts. This sadly, was the only success from Turn You To Love. Not long after this, Terry was dropped by Elektra, and for the second time in three years, he was without a record label.
Terry continued to tour until 1983, but never made another studio album during this period. By 1983, changes were afoot in his life. He won custody of his daughter, and started taking evening classes in computer programming. This lead to him taking what would be a prolonged sabbatical from music, which lasted fifteen years. During this period, Terry gained a degree in sociology, raised his daughter, and worked at the University of Chicago. During this period Terry never recorded any music, and the only album that was released was a live album of a 1982 show in Washington, TC In DC. It wasn’t until 1998 that Terry released another album Timepeace, twenty years after the release of Turn You To Love, which I’ll now tell you about.
Turn You To Love opens with the Larry Wade and Terry Callier penned Sign of the Times, which gave Terry his biggest hit single in America, reaching number seventy-eight in the US R&B Charts. Straight away, when the track opens, you realize that this is a really catchy track, that will sweep you along. It’s quite different from Terry’s Cadet era music, with a much more contemporary sound that mixes R&B with elements of funk. This funk influence is immediately noticeable, when keyboards, guitars and the rhythm section combine to produce a funk drenched sound, before a piano enters. Then when Terry’s vocal enters, it too sounds quite different. It’s the way he sings the song that’s different, not as reserved or thoughtful, more moderne in his delivery, full of joy, accompanied by a growling, yet equally joyous backing vocalist. The mid-tempo, dance-floor friendly arrangement almost bounces along, keyboards and synths combining with the rhythm section, while Terry delivers the lyrics with a mixture of emotion, passion and joy. Although quite different to his Cadet era music, it’s hugely catchy and demonstrates a different side to Terry’s music.
Larry Wade wrote Pyramids of Love, a very different song to its predecessor. It’s a much slower track, with some lovely lyrics about love. Swathes of keyboards, rhythm section, guitars and percussion combine before Terry’s tender, gentle vocal enters. Behind him the arrangement is quite full,everything combining perfectly, with subtle backing vocalists accompanying Terry. One of these backing vocalists is Terry, and they repeat the lyrics just after his lead vocal, which has an effective call and response style. Later, strings sweep in, providing a contrast to the combination of keyboards, percussion and rhythm section. By then, Terry’s voice is increasing in power and emotion, soaring high above the beautiful, meandering arrangement, which includes flourishes of synths and backing vocalists accompany Terry. Although this is a very different track from the opening track, it’s much more what you’d expect from Terry, with his tender, thoughtful vocal delivering some beautiful lyrics against a lovely, meandering arrangement.
The title track Turn You To Love was another song written by Terry and Larry Wade. A Spanish guitar opens the track, with a slow, subtle rhythm section and piano accompanying a thoughtful, but beautiful vocal from Terry. Lush strings slowly enter, as the arrangement gradually unfolds. Later, Larry Wade adds a chiming, guitar solo, giving way to sweeping strings that are the perfect accompaniment for Terry’s tender vocal, as he delvers the lyrics about love. These lyrics are the best from the Callier-Wade songwriting partnership on the album. With Terry delivering them with a combination of tenderness and thoughtfulness, and an arrangement that’s both understated and beautiful, this is one of the best songs on the album.
If someone had said can you imagine Terry Callier covering Steely Dan I’d have struggled to imagine the scenario. To me, it was like a line out of Alan Partridge. However, when I first heard this many album years ago, that’s what I encountered. It seems a strange choice for this album, but somehow, Terry and his band make it work. A spacious combination of rhythm section give way to keyboards blazing horns and searing, soaring guitars, before Terry gives slightly strained version of Walter Beckett and Donald Fagen’s lyrics. As the song progresses, he starts to get into the song, while guitars chime and soar, punchy drums and rasping, blazing horns combine. With backing vocalists accompanying him, the song fuses elements of rock, funk and jazz music. It’s a very different version to Steely Dan’s, who seem able to play the track a with looseness and freedom, that allows the song to breath, yet still remaining technically a tight and cohesive unit. Here, the song doesn’t seem to suit Terry’s voice and he has to alter his phrasing, while the band don’t allow the song space to breath. By the end of the track, however, Terry and his band manage to make the song work, just. It’s far from the best song on the album, and surely a song that would’ve suited Terry better could’ve been found. His band are technically excellent, but the song has too rocky a sound for Terry, and I’m sure after the album was released, many people maybe even Terry, questioned the song’s inclusion on the album.
Side two of Turn You To Love opens with the return of one of Terry’s classic songs, Ordinary Joe, which was popular in Northern Soul circles. Here, the song is given a new twist, speeded up with braying horns opening the track, accompanied by the rhythm section and keyboards. When Terry’s vocal enters, it too is quicker, as the song swings beautifully along, given a jazzy twist. His voice is a combination of tenderness and sometimes power, with emotion, joy and passion ever-present. Meanwhile a jazzy bass combines with rasping horns and the rhythm section, with guitars chiming throughout. Together with Terry’s jazz tinged vocal, they transform a classic song into something new, dynamic and full of energy. However, as good as the song is, and it’s excellent, I much prefer the original, which is one of Terry’s best ever songs.
While Ordinary Joe was speeded up, Occasional Rain is slowed way down. It was the title track from Terry’s 1972 album, and like Ordinary Joe is one of his best ever songs. However, this version of Occasional Rain works well, and the slow, spartan arrangement works well, displaying a new, and very beautiful side to the track. With a gentle acoustic guitar and violin combining, Terry’s thoughtful and considered, gentle vocal enters. Later, a harp enters, with flourishes of its beauty combining with the acoustic guitars. This combination is hugely powerful and deeply moving, and with Terry giving one of his best vocals on Turn You To Love, the result is a stunning version of a classic track.
Smokey Robinson cowrote Still Water (Love) with Frank Wilson. It’s another love song, with love compared to still water, as both run deep. As the sound of waves crashing against a beach open the track, a saxophone plays, with Terry’s voice drifting in and out of the track. He’s accompanied by backing vocalists, who play an important part in the track’s success. With piano, rhythm section and guitars accompanying him, a joyful Terry, carefully delivers the lyrics. Horns rasp and backing vocalists sweep in, while the piano is ever-present. The interplay between Terry and the backing vocalists, works really well, and their united soulful voices are a welcome addition. They combine well with Terry and the arrangement resulting in a beautiful, thoughtful track.
Tender, lovely backing vocalists open You and Me (Will Always Be In Love), co-written by Terry, Larry Wade and producer Reginald “Sonny” Burke. Again, the backing vocalists play a vital role in the song, accompanying Terry during the song, while his considered and gentle vocal is sung against a slow, slightly sad arrangement. it’s just the rhythm section, guitars and piano that combine, and for most of the track, it meanders slowly and subtly along. The only time this changes is when Larry Wade unleashes a chiming solo, with flourishes of his jazz guitar, that combine with Terry. Although this sounds good, the arrangement may have sounded better without this, as it detracts from Terry’s vocal and sounds of place with the rest of the arrangement. Despite this, it’s another gorgeous love song, tenderly sung by Terry.
Turn You To Love closes with another Larry Wade and Terry Callier song A Mother’s Love. It’s about a son thanking his mother for all she did for him, all the sacrifices she made for him and how he owes everything to her. A combination of rhythm section, backing vocalists and keyboards accompany Terry. His voice has a tenderness as he expresses gratitude against an arrangement that flows along with horns rasping, and the rhythm section adding brief bursts of drama. Mostly, the arrangement has an understated sound that suits the lyrics. As the song progresses, Terry’s vocal grows in power, as the emotion and passion in his voice grows. As the song ends he’s accompanied by backing vocalists whose voices are perfectly suited to his voice, while the piano and rhythm section provide a subtle and beautiful accompaniment. When this lovely song ends, it seems a good way to end the album. With such lovely lyrics, a gentle, understated arrangement and a tender, emotive vocal full of sincerity and love from Terry, how could you follow that?
Of the two albums Terry recorded for Elektra, Turn You To Love was quite different from its predecessor Fire On Ice. With covers of Steely Dan’s Do It Again, and re-workings of classic Terry Callier songs, like Occasional Rain and Ordinary Joe this saw Terry’s music move in a new direction. Mostly this worked, with Do It Again being the only questionable track on the album. Although Terry and his band made it work, it just seemed the wrong track for Terry. The new versions of Occasional Rain and Ordinary Joe worked well, with the new version of Occasional Rain, adding something new, subtle and quite beautiful to the track. Terry’s cover of the Smokey Robinson and Frank Wilson track Still Water (Love), worked really well and is one of my favorite songs on the album. Of the four songs Terry and Larry Wade cowrote, Pyramids of Love and Turn You To Love are the best, and among the album’s highlights. Apart from the questionable Do It Again, Turn You To Love is an album with some great music on it. Like I said earlier Turn You To Love was a case of something new, something borrowed and something blue. Sadly it was the last studio album Terry recorded for twenty years, until 1998s Timepeace. This sabbatical from music meant that one of the most talented singer, songwriter and musician of his generation was lost to music for far too long. Thankfully, since his return to music in 1998, Terry has recorded some excellent music, including Timepeace and Lifetime, his two best albums since his return from musical exile. Somehow, he effortlessly recorded some stunning music twenty years after the release of Turn You To Love, an album which like its predecessors, has some great music from the hugely talented Terry Caliier. Standout Tracks: Pyramids of Love, Turn You To Love, Occasional Rain and Still Water (Love).
TERRY CALLIER-TURN YOU TO LOVE.
SYL JOHNSON-BACK FOR A TASTE OF YOUR LOVE.
SYL JOHNSON-BACK FOR A TASTE OF YOUR LOVE.
During the early to mid-seventies, Hi Records were producing some of the best Southern Soul of that time. With Willie Mitchell producing, The Memphis Rhythm Section, Memphis Horns and legendary backing vocalists Rhodes, Chalmers and Rhodes, one great record after another was recorded at the famous Royal Recording Studios and Allied Recording Studios. Back then, Hi had a roster that included some of the most talented purveyors of Southern Soul. Their best known artist was Al Green, who released some critically acclaimed and commercially successful albums, resulting in four of his albums certified gold, and one platinum. However, there was more to Hi than Al Green, with Ann Peebles, O.V. Wright, Otis Clay and Syl Johnson all producing some stunning albums for Hi. Of these artists, Syl Johnson is often overlooked when people discuss Hi. In doing so, some wonderful Southern Soul goes almost unnoticed, because Syl released four albums for Hi, all of which feature some quality Southern Soul.
Syl’s first album for Hi was Back For A Taste of Your Love, which this article is about. It was released in 1973, reaching number nineteen in the US R&B Charts. This was Syl’s most successful album for Hi. His second album, Diamond In the Rough, which I’ve previously reviewed, was released in 1974, but disappointingly, failed to chart. Total Explosion his third album, fared better, reaching number fifty-six in the US R&B Charts. By the time Syl released his final album for Hi, the music industry was a very different place and Hi was a very different label. Hi had been taken over by Cream, and they decided that what would become Uptown Shakedown should be recorded on the West Coast, with some of the top session players accompanying Syl. With no Memphis Horns or Memphis Rhythm Section, it was a different sounding album, albeit one with some fine music on it. Uptown Shakedown failed to chart, not helped by the massive popularity of disco music. This lead to albums by Southern Soul singers like Syl, Ann Peebles, Otis Clay and O.V. Wright not selling in such vast quantities. Even Al Green’s music wasn’t as popular, although his music had changed since becoming ordained as a pastor. However, this was all in the future, and after signing for Hi in 1971, Syl set about recording his debut album for his new label.
Before recording got underway for Back For A Taste of Your Love, ten songs were chosen for the album. Syl cowrote three of them, the title track Back For A Taste of Your Love, I’m Yours and Feelin’ Frisky, which he cowrote with Earl Randle, who wrote or cowrote so many of the great tracks recorded by Hi artists. On Back For A Taste of Your Love Earl wrote four tracks himself, and one with Syl. With The Memphis Rhythm Section, The Memphis Horns and Memphis Strings accompanying him, Syl entered the Royal Recording Studios. Rhodes, Chalmers and Rhodes contributed backing vocals, while Willie Mitchell engineered and produced the album. Having cut ten tracks, the album was due for release later in 1973.
On Back For A Taste of Your Love’s release towards the end of 1973, the album sold well, reaching number nineteen in the US R&B Charts, the highest chart placing of any of Syl’s Hi albums. In total, three singles were released from the album during 1973. The title track Back For A Taste of Your Love, reached number sixteen in the US R&B Charts, while We Did It reached number twenty-three in the US R&B Charts. The only disappointment was I’m Yours, which peaked at number sixty-eight in the US R&B Charts. Overall, the start of Syl’s Hi career had been a success, two hit singles and in Back For A Taste of Your Love an album that was well received and a commercial success. However, what does Back For A Taste of Your Love sound like? That’s what I’ll now tell you.
Back For A Taste of Your Love opens with the title track Back For A Taste of Your Love, which gave Syl a number sixteen US R&B hit single. With horns blazing the track swings into life, with a driving rhythm section accompanying Syl’s sultry vocal. A guitar plays the same line repeatedly, while a Hammond organ wails and horns punctuate the arrangement. The arrangement just swings along, hooks aplenty during what’s a really catchy, swinging track. With the horns and rhythm section playing leading roles in the track’s success, your swept along for just under three minutes of this horn laden, driving track. You become caught up in this uptempo and uplifting track, with Syl’s joyful vocal sitting atop Willie Mitchell’s excellent arrangement.
I’m Yours was another of the three singles released from the album, but only reached a rather disappointing number sixty-eight in the US R&B Charts. This didn’t reflect the quality of the song, which again, sees braying horns, Hammond organ and punchy rhythm section open the track, before an emotive and confident Syl’s vocal enters. With Rhodes, Chalmers and Rhodes accompanying Syl throughout the track, their sweet, soulful voices help make a good track even better, and provide a contrast to Syl’s more powerful vocal. As the track progresses, horns constantly punctuate the track, while the Hammond organ and rhythm section provide the mainstay of the arrangement, and the perfect backdrop for a besotted Syl, whose smitten by his new love, willing to do anything to please her. Together, they combine to produce a joyous and emotive sounding track, with Syl sassy and confident throughout.
The first of the four tracks written by Earl Randle himself, is I Let A Good Girl Go, a very different sounding track to the two previous tracks. It’s slower and full of sadness and regret. It has a much more understated and lush arrangement with strings sweeping sadly and slowly, while the rhythm section play carefully and thoughtfully and guitars chime. Adding to the emotion and sadness is a heartbroken Syl whose full of regret at the girl he mistreated and let go. When a Hammond organ enters, it’s the perfect addition, helping to bring out the heartache and regret in the lyrics, and a perfect accompaniment for Syl’s desperate vocal. This is easily one of the album’s highlights, a track that you’ll never tire of hearing.
With horns blazing Anyway the Wind Blows, another Earl Randle track opens. The horns are joined, chiming guitars and rhythm section, before Syl’s soliloquy enters. He’s despairing, his girlfriend threatening to leave him, and has come to the conclusion he can’t stop her, he’s done all he can to make her happy, so if she chooses to leave, so be it. Against an atmospheric and emotive backdrop of stabs of Hammond organ, rasping horns, lush sad strings and rhythm section, a despondent, but realistic Syl’s voice rises and falls, pain and frustration in his voice ever-present. Here, the addition of the Hammond organ and strings is a masterstroke, adding to an already sad and despondent sounding arrangement, and by combining horns adds to the frustration and anguish in Syl’s voice. This is a classic Willie Mitchell arrangement, providing an arrangement that suits the lyrics and Syl’s delivery of them. Willie’s arrangement and Syl’s vocal brings Earl Randle’s lyrics brilliantly to life, resulting a deeply moving and sad song, but one that’s quite beautiful and thoughtful.
Side one of Back For A Taste of Your Love closes with You Don’t Know Me. This is another slow track, where swathes of strings, rhythm section and Hammond organ combine, before a despondent and thoughtful Syl enters. He’s unhappy, having let his chance of love pass him by, his love unrequited and unnoticed. While a heartbroken Syl sings, Rhodes, Chalmers and Rhodes add subtle and tender backing vocals, as the song meanders sadly along. The strings add to the sadness, as does the Hammond organ, while a thoughtful rhythm section provide the song’s heartbeat. This is a powerful and thoughtful combination, made all the better by the slow tempo and of course, Syl’s heartbroken vocal.
Feelin’ Frisky opens side two of Back For A Taste of Your Love, and is co-written by Syl and Earl Randle. It’s a faster and much more uptempo track, with a more uplifting sound. Blazing horns, Hammond organ and rhythm section provide a swinging backdrop for another sassy vocal from Syl. As horns bray and rasp, the Hammond wails and punchy drums are occasionally joined by Rhodes, Chalmers and Rhodes. Together with Syl and the band, they combine to produce a great sounding track, albeit one where the lyrics don’t have the depth of some of the other tracks on the album.
Another of the three singles released from the album was We Did It, which reached number twenty-three in the US R&B Charts. Here, the tempo increases, with swirling, sweeping strings joining rasping horns, piano and rhythm section before Syl makes his entrance. It’s a happy, joyful Syl we meet, happy that his relationship has lasted, and that they’ve made it through the bad times. With Rhodes, Chalmers and Chalmers sweetly yet soulfully accompanying him, the arrangement sweeps along, with a Hammond organ accompanying the punchy, growling horns and swirling strings that play a key role in the arrangement. When all this is combined with the quicker tempo and Syl’s joyous vocal, the result is a much better track than the previous one, thanks to much better lyrics that have some depth.
Earl Randle wrote Wind, Blow Her Back My Way which straight away, you realise has a classic Willie Mitchell arrangement. A Hammond organ and rhythm section combine to produce heartbreaking arrangement, even before a despondent Syl or the saddest strings enter. Add to this rasping horns and you’ve one of the saddest and emotive arrangements on the albums. Stabs and flourishes of the Hammond add to the sadness, as Syl sings about who he told his girlfriend to leave, and is now desperate for her return. Willie Mitchell provides one of his stunning, trademark Southern Soul arrangements, perfect for a despondent and inconsolable Syl. Although just two and half minutes long, it’s one of the best and saddest tracks, Syl ever recorded for Hi.
I Hate I Walked Away has similarities with the previous track, with swathes of the lushest strings, a wailing Hammond organ and slow rhythm section combining before Syl’s vocal enters. He’s full of regret and despair, having left his girlfriend, and realizing his mistake wants her back. As the emotion results in his voice rising, Rhodes, Chalmers and Rhodes enter, their united vocals swoop in, sympathetically accompanying Syl. With the strings sweeping and swirling, sometimes adding drama, the Hammond adds to the atmospheric slightly bluesy sound. Full of remorse and regret, Syl pleads forgiveness, his voices soaring as he apologizes. This is hugely effective and seems so realistic, that you almost start to get caught up in the scenario, hoping that Syl will be forgiven. That’s testament to both Syl’s vocal and Willie Mitchell skills as a production.
Back For A Taste of Your Love closes with The Love You Left Behind, which Syl released as a single in 1971, reaching number forty-three in the US R&B Charts. Bursts of braying horns punctuate the arrangement, while the rhythm section add drama, before Syl’s powerful, roaring vocal enters. WIth Rhodes, Chalmers and Chalmers accompanying him, their subtle backing vocals provide a welcome contrast to the power of Syl’s vocal. Throughout the track, punchy, growling horns, Hammond organ and rhythm section combine, playing quickly, matching the passion displayed by Syl. Although it’s a track laden with drama and passion, it has a slightly different sound to the other nine tracks. Whether this is because it was recorded at a different time, or just because Syl and the band kick loose, it seems somewhat out of place. However, given the passion displayed and a punchy, blazing arrangement, it’s a good way to end the album.
As I said earlier in this review, Syl Johnson’s music is often overlooked when the music of Hi is discussed. During his career, he recorded for a variety of labels, with one of his best albums 1969s Is It Because I’m Black? A close second must come Back For A Taste of Your Love which features Syl at his very best. He was accompanied by some of the best musicians of the time in The Memphis Horns, Memphis Rhythm Section and Memphis Strings, with Rhodes, Chalmers and Rhodes adding backing vocals. Add Willie Mitchell as producer and some great material, with six songs written or co-written by Earl Randle and you’ve the recipe for a successful album. This was the case, with Back For A Taste of Your Love reaching number nineteen in the US R&B Charts, giving Syl his most successful album of his Hi career. Of the four albums he recorded for Hi, they all featured some fine music, but none of the other three were as complete. Each of the ten songs feature Syl at his best, bringing a song to life, with either heartache and despair or happiness and joy. On each song, he launched himself into it, made it come alive, so much so, that it made you believe in the characters. This is similar to a good book or film. That Syl could do this is testament to his talent and versatility as a singer. If you’ve never heard the music of Syl Johnson, I can thoroughly recommend it. A two-disc set entitled The Complete Syl Johnson On Hi Records was released back in 2000, by Demon Music Group. It features the four albums recorded by Syl for Hi Records, including the stunning Back For A Taste of Your Love. Standout Tracks: I Let A Good Girl Go, Anyway the Wind Blows, Blow Her Back My Way and I Hate I Walked Away.
SYL JOHNSON-BACK FOR A TASTE OF YOUR LOVE.
O.V. WRIGHT-WE”RE STILL TOGETHER.
O.V. WRIGHT-WE”RE STILL TOGETHER.
I’ve always thought that O.V. Wright was one of the most underrated Southern Soul singers of his generation. In some ways, his music was overshadowed by the success of Al Green, who was on the same label as O.V. Hi Records. Whereas, Al Green had numerous critically acclaimed albums, O.V. only released three studio albums for Hi. The first of these was Into Something (Can’t Shake Loose), which was released in June 1977. His second album was The Bottom Line, released in July 1978. The final album that O.V. released for Hi, and the final album of his tragically short career was We’re Still Together, released in May 1979. Tragically, just over a year later, O.V. Wright died, aged just forty-one, due to a drugs overdose. This tragedy saw Southern Soul lose one of its great talents, and a man with an unmistakable and inimitable voice.
We’re Still Together, like his two previous albums for Hi was recorded at Royal Recording Studios and Allied Recording Studios, with Willie Mitchell producing the album. It had been all change at Hi, with familiar faces leaving, being replaced by new personnel. One of the changes was the new Hi Rhythm Section and augmenting The Memphis Horns, were members of The South Memphis Horns. Another change was that backing singers Rhodes, Chalmers, Rhodes only appeared on one track, I’m Gonna Stay. Previously, they’d been a permanent fixture at Hi, their backing vocals gracing the best albums on Hi. This was just the latest change at Hi, which was undergoing a number of changes after being taken over.
What didn’t change was the standard of songs for O.V. to record, with Earl Randle contributing six of the tracks with a variety of songwriting partners. One of these was Willie Mitchell, with whom he’d written a number of great track. Their collaboration was I’m Gonna Stay, which closed side one of We’re Still Together. James Shaw collaborated with Earl on two songs, I Found Peace and The Hurt Is One. The nine songs on We’re Still Together were a combination of Southern Soul, with a sprinkling of funk. This was an intriguing and quite brilliant combination.
Sadly, regardless of the quality of music on We’re Still Together, it wasn’t a commercial success. Albums like this were no longer as popular, with many people preferring the now hugely popular disco music. Soul singers live O.V., Bobby Womack and even other artists on Hi like Otis Clay, Ann Peebles and even Al Green were no longer as popular. This was unfortunate, as many great soul albums passed almost unnoticed, including We’re Still Together, which I’ll now tell you about.
We’re Still Together opens with the title track, We’re Still Together one of six tracks co-written by Earl Randle, this time with Richie Key. With a combination of rasping horns, swirling strings, funky rhythm section and chiming guitars, the track opens.It has an uptempo joyous sound, with an appreciative O.V. grateful that he’s still together with his partner. A funky bass is a permanent fixture, as are the rasping horns, lush, swirling strings and sweet sounding female backing vocalists. They provide a contrast to O.V. raspy voice. Later, a sultry saxophone drenches the arrangement with its beauty. This addition is quite a departure from his two previous albums, with The Memphis Horns never usually playing solos. However, this really helps the track, and with a stunning arrangement from Willie Mitchell and an emotive and passionate vocal from O.V. it’s a fantastic way to open the album.
I Found Peace is a mid-tempo track that has a slight funky sound throughout. The arrangement combines elements of the M.F.S.B. rhythm section with the best of Southern Soul. Lush strings, accompany the rhythm section and chiming, shimmering guitars, before O.V.’s vocal enters. It’s a joyful O.V. we hear, at peace, ready to take on the world, because of the love of his partner. With the female backing vocalists accompanying him, and the rhythm section locking into a gentle funk based groove, the track sweeps along. Adding to the Southern Soul sound in a Hammond organ, which atmospherically wails. Keyboards also enter, as do rasping horns, and together with O.V, they combine to produce a really catchy, hook laden track, that sweeps beautifully along.
There’s a noticeable change in style and sound on It’s Cold Without Your Love, written by Jim Dotson and Earl Randle. It’s a heartbroken O.V. accompanied by a slow, thoughtful arrangement with a lovely understated sound. Here, it’s just the rhythm section, guitars and strings that combine, with female backing vocalists, accompanying a desperate and lonely O.V. The arrangement meanders along, with braying horns occasionally punctuating the sound, while O.V. emotively sings his heart out, displaying hurt and pain throughout this hugely moving track.
Sisters Aretha and Carolyn Franklin co-wrote Baby, Baby, Baby, a track that bursts into life with horns blazing, before giving way to a slow emotive sounding track, where piano, a slow rhythm section and guitars combine before a despairing and disconsolate O.V. enters. He’s desperate having lost the woman he loves, downcast and lost. With punchy sounding backing female backing vocalists accompanying him, who add to the drama of O.V.’s vocal, the track unfolds. O.V.’s The arrangement grows fuller, sad, dramatic strings combining with rasping horns, a drama laden rhythm section, piano and searing, chiming guitars. This impressive sounding, hugely sad combination combined with O.V.’s vocal is a potent and emotional combination that sounds quite brilliant.
Side one closes with a song many people will be familiar with, I’m Gonna Stay, the only track that Willie Mitchell co-wrote with Earl Randle. When you hear the first few familiar bars, it’s like meeting an old friend. There’s a real Southern Soul sound to the track, the rhythm section, guitars and Hammond organ combining with O.V.’s raspy voice. It’s a belligerent O.V. we hear, whose decided to stay with his partner, just to spite her. Horns blaze in, while the backing singers subtly sweep in. The tempo is slow, a wandering bass and slow, regular drums combine to provide the track’s heartbeat, while the horns and baking singers punctuate the track. By the end of the track, you realize that the Willie Mitchell and Earl Randle songwriting partnership have triumphed again, producing a great track, one that’s all the better for having O.V. singing it.
It’s a very different sounding track that opens side two of We’re Still Together. The funk drenched The Hurt Is On, which has wah-wah guitars, blazing horns and the funkiest of rhythm section accompanying O.V.’s angry vocal. This is a song with a social conscience, that amazingly, is even more relevant today than in 1979. O.V. sings about the problems of unemployment and poverty, against a backdrop that wouldn’t sound out place in a Blaxploitation movie. With swirling, strings joining the wah-wah guitars and growling horns, the arrangement just gets better. Providing a contrast are the some of the sweetest backing vocals on the album. Although this isn’t a slice of Southern Soul, it’s one of the album’s highlights, five magical and majestic minutes of a fusion of angry, funk and soul music.
A wailing Hammond organ, piano and rhythm section combine to provide a bluesy sounding backdrop for O.V.’s vocal on Today I Sing the Blues. Again, it’s a sad and lonely O.V. we hear, his girlfriend having left time. While chiming, searing guitars, piano and rhythm section slowly combine to produce a sad bluesy sound, horns rasp and the Hammond atmospherically wails sympathetically. Adding just the finishing touch to a really moving and great sound blues track are the lushest of strings, which accompany the desperate O.V.
After a diversion via funk and then the blues, O.V. returns to familiar territory, Southern Soul on Mirror of My Soul. A moody Hammond organ, rhythm section, guitars and rasping horns combine slowly, before sad, yet lush strings enter. After a lengthy introduction, a tender vocal from O.V. enters. His throaty vocal gently sings of his love for a woman who has transformed his life, made him happy and “brought meaning to his life.” As a slow, sad arrangement gradually reveals itself, with female backing vocalists punctuating the track, you realize that this beautiful and tender song is one of the album’s highlights. Not only that, but it’s one of O.V.’s best songs of his Hi period.
We’re Still Together closes with Sacrifice, with O.V.’s half-spoken vocal accompanied by the rhythm section, piano and guitars. Later, horns rasp, punctuating the arrangement, while strings sweep slowly and sadly. Together, they provide the perfect backdrop for a heartbroken O.V. He sings about the pain and hurt he’s suffered, his girlfriend having left him. With the strings and piano playing important parts in the arrangement, backing vocalists sweep in. Their gentle and sweet voices provide a contrast to the heartache and pain in O.V.’s voice, as the sad and melancholy arrangement flows along. By the end of this beautiful, tender yet heartbreaking song, you begin to sympathize and empathize with O.V. so real is the hurt and pain he displays. This demonstrates his talent and versatility, how he could deliver any song, and brilliantly bring the lyrics to life.
As I finished listening to We’re Still Together, it struck me that this was the last album of O.V.’s tragically short career. He was such a hugely talented singer, able to sing a variety of songs from Southern Soul, blues and even funk. On We’re Still Together, he displays this versatility, with the funk laden The Hurt Is On, followed by the bluesy Today I Sing the Blues, before returning to the familiar territory of Southern Soul on Mirror of My Soul. How many other artists could change styles with such ease, and deliver different styles of music so convincingly? O.V. Wright could, and although he only recorded three albums for Hi Records, they’re three great albums, full of the highest quality of music. On Into Something (Can’t Shake Loose and The Bottom Line, both of which I’ve previously reviewed, O.V. demonstrates his versatility and considerable talent. On We’re Still Together, there had been a number of changes at Hi Records, with many of the people who’d played on his first two albums leaving, and been replace by new personnel. Although you can tell the difference in the rhythm section, horns and backing vocalists, this doesn’t detract from the quality. If anything, it brought something new and fresh to the album, that made this subtly different from his two previous albums. Of the nine tracks that make up We’re Still Together, they’re of the highest quality, with no filler or makeweights, just great music. Remarkably, the music on We’re Still Together wasn’t affected by O.V.’s heroin habit, something that could really destroy an artists talent and creativity. It seemed that O.V. was just as good as ever, still in the groove, still making great music. Sadly, it was his addiction to drugs that cost O.V. Wright his career, dying aged just forty-one, far too young and with so much more music to produce. However, tragically, that wasn’t to be, and the legacy O.V. Wright leaves behind is something we can all share and cherish, some brilliant music, including his final album We’re Still Together. Standout Tracks: I Found Peace, Baby, Baby, Baby, The Hurt Is On and Mirror of My Soul.
O.V. WRIGHT-WE”RE STILL TOGETHER.
THE TEMPTATIONS-ALL DIRECTIONS.
THE TEMPTATIONS-ALL DIRECTIONS.
When The Temptations were recording what became All Directions, the group were determined not two songs that eventually appeared on the album. One of these songs was Papa Was A Rolling Stone, and The Temptations were absolutely determined not to record the song. They felt that the song wouldn’t provide them with a hit, and that this a backward step. After this, they felt, they’d be back singing ballads like My Girl and Ain’t To Proud To Beg. Having been persuaded to record Papa Was A Rolling Stone, the twelve minute epic proceeded to give the group one of the biggest hits of their career and resulted in three Grammy Awards for The Temptations. On its release, it reached number one in the US BIllboard 100 and number five in the US R&B Charts. The song received a Gramm for Best R&B Song, Best R&B Performance by a Group and even a Grammy for the instrumental version on the B-side of the track. Producer Norman Whitfield who incidentally co-wrote the song with Barrett Strong, must have felt vindicated, as Papa Was A Rolling Stone became one of the group’s biggest ever hits. However, as if that wasn’t good enough, the album All Directions gave The Temptations a huge hit album.
Recording for All Directions had taken place during 1972, with what was the fourth incarnation of The Temptations. With Norman Whitfield producing the album, eight tracks were laid down. The Barrett Strong and Norman Whitfield partnership contributed two songs, Papa Was A Rolling Stone and Funky Music Sho’ Nuff Turn Me On, previously recorded by Edwin Starr, which was the B-side to the first single released from All Directions, Mother Nature. It had only reached a somewhat disappointing number ninety-two in the US Billboard 100 and number twenty-seven in the US R&B Charts. However, Papa Was A Rolling Stone would more than make up for this. Of the other songs on All Direction, another prolific Motown songwriting duo, Ashford and Simpson contributed one song, Love Woke Me Up This Morning. Also on the album are covers of Isaac Hayes Do Your Thing and Ewan McColl’s beautiful The First Time Ever (I Saw Your Face). This was clearly an album long on quality, with no filler whatsoever. The record buying public realized this on the album’s release, in July 1972.
Before All Direction’s release, the album was critically acclaimed. The continuation of the fusion of soul and psychedelia appealed to critics and record buyers alike, with All direction reaching number two in the US Billboard 200 and number one in the US R&B Charts. After All Directions, The Temptations next three albums continued to sell well. 1973 saw two albums released, Masterpiece in February, which reached number seven in the US Billboard 200 and number one in the US R&B Charts, while 1990, released in December, reached number thirteen in the US Billboard 200 and number two in the US R&B Charts. Two years later, in January 1975, A Song For You reached number thirteen in the US Billboard 200 and number one in the US R&B Charts. After this album, The Temptations albums didn’t sell in such huge quantities, with them unable to replicate their earlier success. Even a brief sojourn to Atlantic Records where two albums were recorded, didn’t help. When they returned to the Gordy and then Motown labels, the commercial success of their earlier years eluded them, although they continued to make fine music. However, the music wasn’t as good as the psychedelic soul stew of All Directions, which I’ll now tell you about.
All Direction opens with a cover of the Barrett Strong and Norman Whitfield penned Funky Music Sho’ Nuff Turn Me On, a track best known for Edwin Starr’s version. After a big build up, the crowd being whipped up into fervor, resulting in raucous applause, the track opens, with each of the five Temptations sharing the lead vocal. The track sounds as if it has been recorded live, giving you an idea of just what The Temptations sounded like live. With The Funk Brothers backing them, and giving a tight, yet funky performance, Dennis Edwards, Richard Street, Damon Harris, Otis Williams and Melvin Franklin take turns of singing lead, while the other four provide harmonies. While The Funk Brothers provide a funk laden backdrop, The Temptations, combine emotion, joy and power resulting in an impressive and professional performance. However, due to the track being recorded live, the crowd noise sometimes drowns out the music, slightly spoiling the music for me.
Earlier in this review I mentioned that their were two tracks on the album The Temptations had to be persuaded to record. One was Papa Was A Rolling Stone, the other Run Charlie Run. The controversy here, was over the subject matter of the song, dealing with “white flight.” It was music with a social conscience, supportive of Black Power movement that required The Temptations to sing in a “caucasian” or “white” accent “the niggers are comin.’” Like the other Temptations, Otis wasn’t keen to record the track. However, producer Norman Whitfield persuaded them to do so, and against the track was included on the album. As the track opens, a piano, funky rhythm section and soaring, searing guitar combine with blazing horns as the vocal enters. Straight away, the controversial white flight lyrics can be heard. In them, they sing about people going to church on Sunday, but by Monday they forget what they’ve learned. Instead of togetherness and friendship, the white people became racists, rather than embrace and the black people who had entered their town and cities. Instead, the white people chose to leave these places, and make it worse, by passing their racist attitudes and beliefs to their children. When you listen to the track, it’s powerful, makes you angry and sad, that people could choose to dislike a person merely because of the color of their skin. With a reverberating, funky and dramatic arrangement accompanying them, The Temptations bring the song to life. This is helped by the constant pounding drums and blazing horns, that accompany the passion, frustration and anger of their vocals. As I said earlier, it’s a hugely powerful track, one that makes you glad to be alive in more enlightened times.
Easily the best known track on All Directions is the twelve minute epic Papa Was A Rolling Stone, which closes side one of the album. Here, Norman Whitfield’s production is stunning, the prolonged arrangement building and building, with the rhythm section, wah-wah guitars, keyboards and sweeping, swirling horns. The longer the introduction goes, the more the anticipation builds. You wonder what’ll happen next, where the track is heading? After four and a half dramatic and sweeping minutes, where the ever-present bass is a mainstay of the track, while hi-hats, horns and strings all play their part, the vocal enters. Each of The Temptations have their own part to play. Damon plays the part of the child’s mother, answering thee questions about their late father, trying to add a balance to the negative things they’ve heard about him. Meanwhile rest of the group play the part of the questioning children, with a series of questions being answered by Damon. This is already emotive and powerful, but the addition of braying horns, searing wah-wah guitars, the moody bass and the hissing hi-hats, adds to this. When you listen to the lyrics, there’s a sense of sadness present, that children would hear these things about their late father, and this is made worse by the thought of their mother having to answer them. By the end of this seminal, twelve minute epic, you realize that this is one of the defining moments not only in the career of The Temptations, but producer Norman Whitfield. Not only is the song powerful and emotive, but one of the best songs the group recorded and Norman producer. After all, when you’ve climbed the highest mountain, where do you go from there?
Over the years, Ashford and Simpson were more than just a highly successful songwriting partnership, this husband and wife duo, recorded a number of highly successful albums, like Street Opera and Solid, as well as producing acts like Gladys Knight and The Pips. A lush combination of piano and strings combine as Love Woke Me Up This Morning begins. This is followed by a tender vocal from Damon, while the rest of the group combine to sing equally tender harmonies. Behind them, the rhythm section combine, with the drums playing with an almost jaunty beat. Meanwhile, grand strings, rasping horns, piano and chiming guitars combine to produce a lovely arrangement, perfect for the Damon’s now soaring, passionate vocal which is full of emotion and sincerity. This results in a quite beautiful track, which opens the second side of All Directions.
I Ain’t Got Nothing sees Otis and Melvin share the lead vocal. As the track opens, the sound is understated, but there’s a sense that something special is about to happen. With Otis and Melvin sharing the lead, a slightly moody sounding arrangement unfolds. Key to its sound are the rhythm section who play slowly and thoughtfully, while strings add a sense of emotion and sadness. Adding to the arrangement is a piano which drops in and out of the the track. However, it’s the interplay between Melvin and Otis that adds to the moody sound, especially the contrast in their vocals. This sound is perfect for the sense of despair in the lyrics, especially when the sing “I’ve got nothing.” Here, The Temptations and producer Norman Whitfield combine brilliantly to produce a song that has a sense of bleakness and despair, befitting the song’s lyrics.
When Ewan McColl wrote The First Time Ever (I Saw Your Face), little did he know how many people would cover his song. As I said in another article, cover versions of this song can be good, bad or indifferent. Thankfully, The Temptations version falls into the first category, with Richard Street singing lead vocal. With guitar and bass combining, before the piano enters, Richard’s gorgeous vocal enters. He strikes the right note between singing the song tenderly and with an element of drama, befitting the song. This is no overblown version, thoughtful and tender, with a beautiful arrangement where lush strings sweep in, joining the guitar, bass and piano. Together with Richard’s stunning vocal, they combine to produce one of the album’s highlights.
Although Mother Nature was the B-side of Funky Music Sho’ Nuff Turn Me On, it’s a track that deserved a better fate than that. Of the two tracks, this is a much better track than the A -side. Dennis Edwards gives an emotive and moving rendition of the lyrics, while the dramatic arrangement sweeps along. A piano plays an important role, while strings sweep and swirl, guitars chime, drums pound and horns rasp gently. However, although the arrangement builds and builds, with a sense of drama omnipresent, it’s Dennis’ vocal that holds your attention. You become enthralled by it, spellbound, realizing just how talented and versatile a vocalist he is. There’s a mixture of emotion, passion and drama present, which when combined with Norman Whitfield’s arrangement, is a potent and brilliant combination.
All Directions closes with a cover of an Isaac Hayes track Do Your Thing, where Richard, Damon and Melvin share the lead vocal duties. The track bursts into life with the funkiest of guitars, a drama drenched combination of blazing horns and powerful, pounding drums. After this you’re expecting the track to explode, but it doesn’t. Instead it meanders along, with keyboards joining the arrangement which meanders along, with the vocal constantly changing hands. Throughout the track, a punchy and dramatic combination of drums, handclaps and braying horns make their presence felt, before the track returns to its previous meandering, sometimes moody sound. Although quite different from the two previous tracks, it sounds great and is a good and satisfactory way to end All Directions.
For people who were used to The Temptations singing tracks like My Girl and Ain’t Too Proud To Beg, albums like All Directions and Psychedelic Shack must have been a shock to them. The music was a mixture of soul, funk and psychedelia, all mixed together into a soulful stew that’s quite brilliant. During All Directions, The Temptations combined the frustration, power and anger of Run, Charlie Run, with the heartfelt Papa Was A Rolling Stone and the gorgeously, tender The First Time Ever (I Saw Your Face) sung by Richard Street. On Mother Nature, Dennis Edwards demonstrates his talents as a vocalist, combining emotion, passion and drama with aplomb. Credit must be given to producer Norman Whitfield. Not only is his production stunning, but he stuck by his conviction that The Temptations should record both Papa Was A Rolling Stone and Run, Charlie Run. With The Temptations not wanting to record either track, Norman managed to convince them to do so. This was fortuitous, as Papa Was A Rolling Stone gave the group a number one single and three Grammy Awards. Run, Charlie, Run was emotive music with a social conscience, full of passion and frustration. As I said earlier in this article, All Directions was long on quality and short on filler. Overall, it’s an album full of some great music, with one of the highlights of The Temptations career on it. That was the seminal Papa Was A Rolling Stone, a magical, musical masterpiece. If you’ve never heard All Directions, I can thoroughly recommend it. Now it’s possible to buy remastered versions of both All Directions and Psychedelic Shack on one album. This allows you hear some brilliant fusion of soul, funk and psychedelia from of one of Motown’s biggest groups, The Temptations. Standout Tracks: Papa Was A Rolling Stone, The First Time Ever (I Saw Your Face), Mother Nature and Do Your Thing.
THE TEMPTATIONS-ALL DIRECTIONS.
DR JOHN-IN A SENTIMENTAL MOOD.
DR JOHN-IN A SENTIMENTAL MOOD.
Anyone who collects records or CDs will tell you that one of the biggest buzzes for a collector is either finding an obscure or rare album in the most unlikeliest of places. For me this has included, many years ago finding mint editions of rare soul albums in a dark and dank junk shops that I was almost scared to enter for fear I’d never come out. The place looked like something out of a bad horror movie, but I dared enter and came out a while later grinning, carrying an armful of gorgeous, pristine vinyl. Sometimes, it’s backstreet record shops, looking in the bargain bins, and you see something interesting or unusual. Often this works well, and you come out with a box set of some brilliant electric blues, or an album of psychedelic funk. However, it’s not all plain sailing being a crate digger, after all, who would admit to an album of unlistenable free jazz or eery Byzantine chants that spooked everyone who dared listen to it. Okay, I’ll admit to both. They were cheap and looked interesting.
Another place I picked up an interesting and quite brilliant album was at a Dr. John concert, a number of years ago. I’d long been a fan of the Dr.’s work, so decided to visit his “surgery,” which that time was a concert hall in Glasgow. It was my first Dr. John concert, and he was touring what was a comeback album Anutha Zone. Having heard some of his classics, and much of his new album, everyone left the venue elated, having witnessed the Dr.’s comeback. Stopping by the merchandise stall, I noticed a couple of albums I’d missed, so bought them, without paying much attention to the content. One of these was In A Sentimental Mood, recorded during a fallow period in Dr. John’s career, and which features some great music, which demonstrates a very different side to Dr John, as far away from the psychedelic funk and R&B of his early albums as you could get.
The eighties hadn’t been kind to Dr. John, it’s best described as a fallow period in a career that spans six decades, starting in 1968 with the classic Gris Gris. This rich vein of form lasted until the mid-seventies, spanning a run of albums that included 1969s Babylon, Remedies in 1970, 197s The Sun, Moon and Herbs, Gumbo in 1972, In the Right Place in 1973 and ended with Desitively Bonnaroo in 1974. All of these album were recorded for Atco, part of Atlantic Records, and feature what I’d call vintage Dr. John.
After this, Dr. John’s music changed, tending to focus more on blues, R&B and the music of New Orleans. Another ingredient was some of the “standards,” which started to play a part in his concerts. This would be the case in the album this article is about, In A Sentimental Mood. As well as his music changing, Dr. John recorded less, spending more time as a session musician, something he’d always done even during his Atco years. However, this meant he released fewer and fewer albums, with only four albums being released during the eighties. The eighties began with Dr. John Plays Mac Refennack Volume 1 in 1981, with Dr John Plays Mac Refennack Volume 2 following in 1983. Six years passed without another Dr. John album, until 1989, when two albums were released ZuZu Man and In A Sentimental Mood.
After recording for a variety of smaller labels, In A Sentimental Mood saw Dr. John recording for a major label, Warner Bros. The sessions for the album took place in two prestigious recording studios, The Power Station in New York, and Los Angeles’ Ocean Way Studio. With a full string and horn section, and a tight band in tow, Dr. John recorded some classic songs from yesteryear, including Makin’ Whoopee, Accentuate the Positive and Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying. These songs, and other classics, which feature on On In A Sentimental Mood, are reinterpreted by Dr. John as he gives them his own unique twist.
In A Sentimental Mood opens with a song that will be familiar to most people, Makin’ Whoopee. It’s given the big band treatment by Dr John, slowed right down, and given a jazzy twist. Rickie Lee Jones sings the female part, as Dr John gives this old classic a new twist. With horns a blazing and drums pounding slowly, the song opens, giving way to Dr John’s tinkling piano. It’s only then that his raspy vocal enters, and you can almost imagine him singing the mildly suggestive lyrics with a big smile on his face. When Rickie Lee enters, her voice is sweet and coy, a real contrast to the Dr’s raspy, more powerful voice. Behind them, the strings sweep and horns rasp and blaze, the tempo slow, the sound powerful and swinging. Add to that the rhythm section, especially the drums, which play an important part in the track, and you’ve heard another very different of Dr. John, one that’s as far removed from the psychedelic, R&B and funk fusion of his early albums as you can possibly get. This very different and quite brilliant sound, is a welcome return to form for Dr. John, one that hints at later albums, when he’d cover classic by Duke Ellington and Johnny Mercer.
When you hear Dr. John’s version of Candy there’s only one man that springs to mind, Ray Charles. Indeed, in the sleeve notes to the album, Dr. John gives credit to Ray Charles and Charles Brown for their inspiration. This smoky sounding cover is a fitting testament and tribute to one of the giants of music. The tempo is slow, rasping horns and lush strings sweep and swirl as Dr. John gives a beautiful and heartfelt rendition of the lyrics. His piano playing is sparse and jazz tinged, and when he and the piano drop out, the strings take his place. Here, the horns play second fiddle to the strings, with the strings key to the gorgeous sound. Of course, the other key ingredient is Dr. John’s rasping vocal. Later a saxophone solo drifts above the arrangement, the rest of the horns playing with a subtly. Marty Paich’s arrangement of the strings and horns is stunning, and plays an important part in making this such a great song.
Johnny Mercer becomes the latest of the great songwriters Dr. John pays tribute to, on one of the best known songs he wrote, Accentuate the Positive. Later, Dr. John would record a whole album of Johnny Mercer’s music, Mercernary. This was just an amuse-bouche of what was to come, with high kicking horns almost marching through the track, accompanying the Dr.’s gruff, rough and rocking vocal. He really gets the song swinging, after a slow and somewhat thoughtful introduction, where a meandering piano solo gives way to his earthy vocal. It’s only after that, that the song unfolds, transforming into a swinging, rocking number with the piano at the forefront and those high kicking horns rasping and adding drama. The combination of piano, horns and Dr. John is a potent and swinging one, that gets even better when a saxophone solo blows gloriously, as the song heads towards dramatic crescendo.
One of the most beautiful songs on the album is My Buddy, co-written by Gus Kahn and Walter Donaldson. This song has a lovely, understated lush arrangement, with strings playing a major roll, while horns play a supporting roll. It’s just Dr. John with his trusty piano that opens the track, with cymbals hissing gently in the background. When the strings enter, they’ve the lushest sound, a perfect accompaniment for Dr. John’s thoughtful vocal and piano playing. Behind him a bass meanders, with the strings and later, gently rasping horns entering. Together, they produce a poignant and quite melancholy sound, one that
The songwriting credits for In A Sentimental Mood read like a who’s who of the greatest American songwriters of the first half of the twentieth century, with Duke Ellington, Irvin Mills and Manny Kurtz co-writing the title track In A Sentimental Mood. Again, Dr. John would return to Duke Ellington, recording an album of his best songs, entitled Duke Ellington. Like the previous track, it benefits from an understated arrangement, with the piano and lovely, lush strings combining as the track meanders along. It’s a song from a different age, gentle and beautiful, as it slowly reveals itself. A few jazzy flourishes from the piano accompany the swathes of strings that float above. During the song, Dr. John’s piano playing is among the best on the album, as is Marty Paich’s string arrangement. Together with producer Tommy Lipuma, they combine to produce a beautiful, piano lead track, that features swathes of the lushest strings, and is the perfect way to end side one of the album.
Side two of In A Sentimental Mood opens with Black Night, and the Dr. upping the tempo, on a song written by Jessie Mae Robinson. Dramatic flourishes of piano and braying horns combine as the song opens, with Dr. John demonstrating his talent and versatility as a pianist. When his vocal enters, it’s a downbeat and despondent Dr. we hear, as horns rasp and a beefy bass makes its presence felt. The arrangement is full, and drama laden, horns swirling grandly, while the rhythm more than section play their part in the song’s success. By now, Dr. John’s raspy voice is powerful, regret and sadness his only friends. As the arrangement reverberates, a combination of jazz players new and modern, including drummer Harvey Mason and bassist Abe Laboriel play their part in helping Dr. John give an old song a new magical new twist.
One of the saddest songs on the album is a version of Joe Greene’s Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying. As sad strings swirl in, flourishes of dramatic piano, give way to an equally sad vocal from the Dr. With chiming guitars, strings and piano combining, the song meanders along, flourishes of piano escaping, while a butter and rueful Dr. delivers the lyrics. The arrangement taps into perfectly into the sadness of the lyrics, which have a melancholy, and almost bittersweet quality. Again the arrangement has a somewhat understated sound, relying on the strings, instead of horns. This works well, getting across perfectly the sadness and emotion in the lyrics, especially when combined with such a great vocal as Dr. John’s.
When you talk about the greatest American songwriters of the first half of the twentieth century, then you can’t not mention Cole Porter. Similarly, Dr. John couldn’t record an album featuring some of the greats of American songwriting and not cover a Cole Porter song. The one he chose was Love For Sale, choosing to transform the track, with some of his best piano playing on the album. Here he veers between some rollicking jazzy piano playing with flourishes of drama included, while strings sweep and swirl grandly, their sound vaguely reminding me of a movie soundtrack, while horns rasp and blaze, reverberating and the rhythm section provide a light sprinkling of funk. It’s a track that absolutely swings, and has an irresistible sound. Towards the end, Dr. John almost raps over the arrangement, a brilliant track, just getting even better.
In A Sentimental Mood ends with More Than You Know, which opens with the saddest of string, which have a real retro sound, in keeping with music. They give way to an equally sad and thoughtful vocal from the Dr. with his piano meandering and tinkling along. He delivers the lyrics perfectly, with a tenderness and thoughtfulness, sadness tinging his voice. Above him, sits the strings, which float in and out of the arrangement, with Harvey Mason playing the drums with subtlety, forsaking sticks for bushes. Similarly, the bass meanders, the playing sparse, leaving flourishes of Dr. John’s piano playing and his thoughtful vocal to take centre-stage, on what was a tender, beautiful and heartfelt delivery of the lyrics. This thoughtful and somewhat poignant and melancholy song seems the perfect way to end the album.
For anyone who has only experienced the music of Dr. John’s vintage Atco years, the music on In A Sentimental Mood will come as something of a surprise when they hear it. That was how I felt when I first heard the album, but from the first song I was hooked, and since then, it remains one of my favorite Dr. John albums. If I ever meet anyone who says they don’t like Dr. John because they for some reason don’t like his early music, I win them round by playing them In A Sentimental Mood. That introduces them to a very different side of his music. Then I slowly introduce them to other albums that aren’t typical of his music, before trying the vintage Atco era Dr. John on them. Usually I win them round. On In A Sentimental Mood Dr. John demonstrates how his music was changing, and the two albums that he released in 1981 and 1983 Dr John Plays Mac Refennack Volume 1 and 2, gave us a hint the direction his music was heading in. This album of covers with string and horn section in tow, saw Dr. John brilliantly cover and sometimes, transform old standards, breathing new life and energy into them, as gives them his own unique twist. Since then, his music has continued to evolve, with recent albums rediscovering the music of Duke Ellington, Johnny Mercer and the wonderful music of New Orleans. Throughout his career, Dr. John has been an innovator, never afraid to try something new, sometimes, even becoming a contrarian. However, he’s always provided his many fans with some majestic and memorable music, which they’ll always cherish, and return to. if you’ve never heard Dr. John’s music, there’s plenty of great music available, with Rhino releasing five of his best Atco albums as part of their Original Album Series. Along with that, I’d recommend 1995s The Very Best of Dr. John which features his Atco era music, while 2005s The Best of The Parlophone Years focuses on some of his later work, from his 1998 “comeback” album Anutha Zone onwards. Add to this the brilliant In A Sentimental Mood and you’ll be the proud owner of some of the best music of Dr. John’s long and distinguished career. Standout Tracks: My Buddy, In A Sentimental Mood, Black Night and Love For Sale.
DR JOHN-IN A SENTIMENTAL MOOD.
THE CHI-LITES-TOBY.
THE CHI-LITES-TOBY.
Often an album fails to do as well as it should’ve commercially, because of a lack of promotion and advertising. This is almost becoming a recurring theme for readers of this blog. When Stax was heading towards insolvency, albums like Shirley Brown’s Woman To Woman suffered this fate, while DJ Rogers believed his three albums for RCA suffered from from a lack of advertising and promotion. Another group to suffer from this problem were The Chi-Lites, when they released their seventh studio album Toby.
By 1974 when, The Chi-Lites had recorded Toby, their record company Brunswick Records had started to experience financial problems, that would eventually see the company collapse. Having recorded Toby, with lead singer Eugene Record producing the album, it was ready for release in June 1974. The album featured ten songs, with Eugene writing the songs himself, and co-writing three other songs. Toby featured some great music, but the only thing that could derail the album’s success was Brunswick’s financial problems, and the lack of advertising and promotion. Would these problems break the group’s run of US R&B top ten albums?
On Toby’s release, it only reached number 181 in the US Billboard 200 and number twelve in the US R&B Charts. This was a disappointing result, with Toby becoming the first of The Chi-Lites albums since 1970s I Like Your Lovin’ (Do You Like Mine?), which had failed to chart. After this, the next four Chi-Lites albums had all reached US R&B top ten.
This started in July 1971 with (For God Sake) Give More Power To the People, which reached number three in the US R&B Charts and number twelve in the US Billboard 200. April 1972 saw the release of A Lonely Man, which reached number five in the US R&B Charts and number one in the US Billboard 200. Even their Greatest Hits album, released in October 1972, reached number four in the US R&B Charts and number fifty-five in the US Billboard 200. Their next studio album was A Letter To Myself in March 1973, which reached number four in the US R&B Charts and number fifty in the US Billboard 200. The album that preceded Toby was Chi-Lites, released August 1973. It kept up The Chi-Lites run of top ten US R&B albums, reaching number three in the US R&B Charts and number eighty-nine in the US Billboard 200. However, what was a remarkable run of chart success was ended with Toby, leaving the group no doubt disappointed and frustrated at what might have been.
Of the trio of singles released, only two of the trio reached the top ten in the US R&B charts. The first single was There Will Never Be Any Peace (Until God Is Seated At the Conference Table) which reached number eight in the US R&B Charts and number sixty-three in the US Billboard 100. This was followed by You Got To Be the One which only reached number fifteen in the US R&B Charts and number eighty three in the US Billboard 100. Making up for this was Toby, the third single which reached number seven in the US R&B Charts and number seventy-eight in the US Billboard 100. Although the album had been relatively successful and yielded two top ten US R&B singles, and features some fine music, which I’ll now tell you about.
Toby opens with the title track Toby, co-written by Eugene Record and Barbara Ackilin. With lush, swirling strings, a meandering bass line and rasping horns opening the track, the scene is set for Eugene’s gentle, tenor lead vocal. As Eugene tenderly and thoughtfully tells the story of a young child Toby, you wonder where the story is going. However, nothing prepares you for the ending, when with sadness and emotion, he sings about the child dying. His vocal is enveloped by harmonies from the rest of the group, swathes of slow and sad strings and subtly rasping horns. A combination of Eugene’s beautiful, tender and sympathetic delivery of the lyrics and an equally beautiful arrangement result in one of the album’s highlights.
There’s a change of style on You Got To Be the One, a much more uplifting and slightly funky track. With the other Chi-Lites singing short, sharp, backing vocals, accompanied by percussion, rhythm section, guitar and sweeping strings. They give way to Eugene’s joyful vocal, with braying horns joining him, as the track swings along. It’s a very different sounding track to it’s predecessor, catchy, full of hooks and quicker. The track sweeps and swings along, with strings, horns and a harp playing important parts in the arrangement. Similarly, the interplay between Eugene and the rest of the group, working perfectly, especially against a joyous and melodic sounding arrangement. By the end of the track, this track is guaranteed to leave a good memory and a smile on your face.
The tempo drops again on the sad sounding The Sound of Lonely, written by Eugene and Marshall Arrington. Again, there’s some clever interplay between Eugene and the other Chi-Lites, with the lead vocal changing hands several times. This contrast in styles adds to impact of the song, as well as adding to the drama of the arrangement. Lush, sad strings, blazing horns and a slow and thoughtful rhythm section provide a perfect backdrop for this sad, emotive and quite beautiful song, which has some thoughtful lyrics about loneliness.
Never before will you have heard The First Time (I Ever Saw Your Face) sung like this. Here The Chi-Lites give an old song a new twist, and the result is irresistible. When the track opens, there’s a dramatic combination of punchy rhythm section, chiming guitars and shimmering, quivering strings, that give way to tight harmonies, and Eugene’s spoken word introduction. Rasping horns signal the start of a heartfelt vocal from Eugene, accompanied by piano and harmonies. This combination is stunning, made all the better by the addition of piano, lush strings occasional horns and brief bursts of drama from the drums. Combine all this together, and the result is an irresistible and stunningly, soulful version of Ewan McColl’s song.
Side one of Toby closes with one of the trio of singles released from There Will Never Be Any Peace (Until God Is Seated At the Conference Table). Again, it features some clever interplay between Eugene and the rest of the group, their voices a perfect fit for each other. With a slow, but dramatic combination of sweeping strings, rasping horns, chiming guitars and rhythm section accompanying them, The Chi-Lites surpass themselves. With a heartfelt and sincere pleading lead vocal accompanied by sweet, yet dramatic soaring vocals combining with Eugene’s drama drenched arrangement, it’s no wonder the song reached number eight in the US R&B Charts. Adding just the finishing touch is a saxophone drifting above the arrangement, adding to the beauty, emotion and sincerity of the track.
Side two of Toby opens with That’s How Long that’s laden with drama and features a hugely emotive and powerful vocal from Eugene. It’s accompanied by a full arrangement, and some equally emotive, soaring harmonies from the other Chi-Lites. With a powerful and combination of rhythm section, guitars and blazing horns opening the track, before swirling, shivering strings enter. As if on cue, Eugene’s emotive and heartfelt vocal enters, as he swears to love his partner “until the end of time.” The lead vocal changes hands, before returning to Eugene. Behind him, the a sympathetic, yet powerful and dramatic arrangement has unfolded, with flourishes of strings adding to the combination of strings, horns and rhythm section. Together, they provide the perfect backdrop for The Chi-Lites heartfelt and dramatic deliver of the lyrics.
Eugene Record wrote three of the songs on Toby himself, including Happiness Is Your Middle Name. Again, a dramatic and powerful combination that includes lush, swirling strings, chiming guitars and rhythm section open the track. After this, the arrangement levels out, as Eugene’s tender, gentle vocal enters. With blazing horns and swirling strings combining, the rest of the group provide bassy sounding backing vocals, a total contrast to Eugene’s vocal. The drama grows, when backing female vocalists join The Chi-Lites, as swathes of vocals, join the pounding drums, swirling strings and braying horns. Somehow, this neither overpowers, nor overwhelms the tenderness of Eugene’s vocal as he delivers the lyrics about love, towards the woman he loves.
I Lied is the second Eugene Record penned track in a row. After an impressive, drama laden introduction where Eugene’s vocal is enveloped by harmonies, strings and rhythm section, a pensive and desperate vocal from Eugene follows. Bereft at his partner leaving him, over the lies he told, he’s helpless and lonely, which you can hear in his delivery. The sympathetic, yet dramatic arrangement is perfect for this slow ballad, adding to the sense of emotion, loss and despair in the vocal. As Eugene delivers the lead, the rest of the group add harmonies, which is just the finishing touch to a song full of sadness, despair and regret.
On I Like To Live That Love (I Sing About), Marshall Thompson takes over the lead vocal duties. He even adds a similar spoken word introduction to Eugene’s on The First Time (I Ever Saw Your Face), against a backdrop of keyboards, rhythm section, sweeping strings and blazing horns. Marshall even name-checks BB King during his his introduction, who had previously recorded the song. Once his vocal enters, you realize how talented a vocalist Marshall was, his vocal slightly throaty, but full of emotion and feeling. Behind him, the other Chi-Lites contribute lush harmonies, which combine well with the strings which are at the heart of the arrangement. Horns blaze, while punchy drums occasionally punctuate the track as it swings along, catchy and full of hooks.
Toby closes with Gettin’ Outtta Town, another mid-tempo track, with Eugene singing the lead vocal. With rasping horns, sweeping strings and punchy rhythm section combining, they provide the perfect backdrop for Eugene’s vocal. The rest of the group sing occasional lush harmonies, not playing as big a part in this track as on other tracks. However, when required, their contribution adds to the track, just like the strings, horns and drums which are key to the track’s success. Like the previous track, it’s, really catchy and isn’t short of hooks. Part of the track’s beauty is the way it sweeps along with the strings and vocal at the heart of its uplifting sound, lifting your spirits, and ending the album on high.
Although Toby suffered from a lack of advertising and promotion, because of Bruswick’s financial woes, it was a really good album from The Chi-Lites that deserved to do much better than number 181 in the US Billboard 200 and number twelve in the US R&B Charts. One wonders how the album would have fared on another label, maybe Philadelphia International, who were entering their most productive and commercially successful time. Toby deserved to do much better commercially, as it’s an album full of some majestic music, from one of the most talented soul groups of the seventies. Of the ten tracks, there isn’t a poor track. The album flows along, with one great song following its predecessor. Whether it’s the saddest of ballads or faster, uptempo joyous tracks, The Chi-Lites delivered each with aplomb. Sadly, after Toby, The Chi-Lites never found the same commercial success of the early seventies. Amongst changes in personnel, they continued to make music, but eventually split-up around 1976. They reformed in 1980, but sadly, their music was never as successful. Toby was the last of the great Chi-Lites albums, and is a fitting testament to one of the best and most successful, soul groups of the seventies. Between 1971s (For God Sake) Give More Power To the People and Toby in 1976, The Chi-Lites were at the top of the game, with one stunning album following the other. With Eugene Record at the helm, singing lead vocal, writing and producing the albums, they produced some hugely memorable albums including (For God Sake) Give More Power To the People and A Lonely Man. Like these classic albums, Toby is full of some great music, from one of the greatest soul groups of the seventies, The Chi-Lites. Standout Tracks: Toby, The First Time (I Ever Saw Your Face), There Will Never Be Any Peace (Until God Is Seated At the Conference Table) and I Lied.
THE CHI-LITES-TOBY.
THE DETROIT SPINNERS-MIGHTY LOVE.
THE DETROIT SPINNERS-MIGHTY LOVE.
When The Detroit Spinners signed for Atlantic Records and hooked up with producer Thom Bell there was a huge turnaround in their fortunes. Their first two albums, 1967s The Original Spinners and 2nd Time Around in 1970, hadn’t been commercial a success. Only 2nd Time Around had charted, reaching number 199 in the US Billboard 200 and number forty-six in the US R&B Charts. However, once they signed for their new label Atlantic, and started working with Thom Bell, five consecutive gold albums followed, with the group having three consecutive US R&B number one albums. This was a remarkable turnaround in fortune for Billy Henderson, Bobby Smith, Philippe Wynne, Henry Fambrough and Pervis Jackson, who were The Detroit Spinners.
After the huge success of Spinners, The Detroit Spinners debut album for Atlantic and their first album produced by Thom Bell, the group set about recording what would be the follow-up album Mighty Love. Spinners was going to be a hard act to follow, have reached number one on the US R&B Charts, and number fourteen in the US Billboard 200. Having sold over 500,000 copies, the album was certified gold. Suddenly, with the help of Thom Bell, The Detroit Spinners were one of the biggest soul groups in America. What everyone was wondering, was could their next album match the success of Spinners?
What would become Mighty Love was recorded at the legendary Sigma Sound Studios, with Thom Bell producing the album. Eight songs were recorded, with the famous Philadelphia International house band M.F.S.B. backing The Detroit Spinners. This included one of the best rhythm sections in music B-H-Y, bassist Ronnie Baker, guitarists Norman Harris and drummer Earl Young. Together, this hugely talented trio played on numerous albums that defined The Philly Sound. This includes The Spinners’ Atlantic albums of the early to mid-seventies. With Linda Creed, Barbara Ingram, Carla Benson and Evette Benton singing backing vocals, eight songs were soon recorded. Of these eight songs, six of the songs were co-written by the prolific triumvirate of songwriters Charles Simmones, Joseph B Jefferson and Bruce Hawkes. Another of the songs, Love Don’t Love Nobody, was co-written by Charles Simmones and Joseph B Jefferson, while the Thom Bell and Linda Creed songwriting partnership co-wrote one of the singles released from the album, I’m Coming Home. With Mighty Love recorded, it was due for release in March 1974.
After being critically acclaimed, Mighty Love was released in March 1974, reaching number one in the US R&B Charts and number sixteen in the US Billboard 200. This meant that The Detroit Spinners received their second consecutive gold disc of their careers. Little did they know back then, that they receive five in total. Adding to the success of Mighty Love was three top ten US R&B singles. The first of these Mighty Love which reached number one in the US R&B Charts and number twenty in the US Billboard 100. It was followed by the Thom Bell and Linda Creed penned I’m Coming Home which reached number three in the US R&B Charts and number eighteen in the US Billboard 100. The last single released from Mighty Love was Love Don’t Love Nobody, reaching number four in the US R&B Charts and number fifteen in the US Billboard 100. All things considered, Mighty Love had been a massive commercial success, reaching number one on the US R&B Charts and spawning three hit singles, including a US R&B number one single. By now it seemed that The Detroit Spinners could do no wrong. This success lasted until 1976, and during this time The Detroit Spinners were one of the biggest and most successful groups in soul music, releasing one great album after another, including Mighty Love which I’ll now tell you about.
Mighty Love opens with Since I Been Gone, one of six penned by Charles Simmones, Joseph B Jefferson and Bruce Hawkes. A combination of buzzing bass, piano, shimmering strings, rasping horns and punchy drums open the track, before giving way to the united vocals of The Detroit Spinners. After this, Bobby’s gentle, tender lead vocal enters, as he sings about his loneliness and how he misses his ex-girlfriend. Behind him the rest of group provide dramatic harmonies, accompanied by the rhythm section and rasping horns. Then strings sweep in, their lush sound adding to the sadness and emotion of Bobby’s lead vocal. With Thom Bell’s producing the track, his masterful arrangement manages to combine emotion, sadness and drama perfectly, resulting in a track full of heartache and regret.
The remarkable thing about Mighty Love is that three great singles were released from the album, and a track like Ain’t No Price On Happiness wasn’t one of them. That demonstrates the sheer quality of music on Mighty Love. When you hear the track you wonder why? As the track opens with the Baker, Harris and Young rhythm section combining with slow, blazing horns and the lushest of strings. It’s only then that Bobby’s beautiful vocal enters, tinged with sadness and regret. Meanwhile, the rest of the group and backing vocalists combine to contribute tender backing vocals. Swathes of strings enter, sweeping behind Bobby, while the rhythm section and horns combine. By now, the heartache and despair in Bobby’s voice is almost tangible, at the end of his relationship, as he sings that “there ain’t no price on happiness.”This beautiful, but sad and despondent vocal from Bobby is complimented by some stunning, thoughtful playing from M.F.S.B. and another emotive Thom Bell arrangement.
I’m Glad You Walked Into My Life is one of the slow songs on the album, with a beautiful, slightly dramatic introduction, where keyboards, rhythm section and lush strings combine with gently, rasping horns. They give way to a thoughtful vocal from Bobby, with the rest of the Spinners singing harmonies. There’s a mixture of joy and emotion in Bobby’s voice having finally met the woman of his dreams. Behind him, Thom Bell’s sympathetic arrangement adds to the emotion in Bobby’s vocal. Strings sweep slowly and emotively, while the rhythm section combine playing thoughtfully with short, sharp bursts of drama. As the song progresses, it just gets better and better. Bobby’s vocal grows in power and emotion, as does the arrangement, ultimately reaching an emotional and joyful crescendo.
Side one of Mighty Love closes with I’m Coming Home, co-written by Thom Bell and Linda Creed, who over the years, co-wrote so many brilliant songs together. When this track was released as the second single from the album, it reached number three in the US R&B Charts and number eighteen in the US R&B Charts. The track bursts into life, a punchy rhythm section, swirling strings and blazing horns combining with Philippe Wynne’s joyous vocal. His vocal is quicks, with him elated at returning home. Behind him, the rest of The Detroit Spinners and backing vocalists contribute equally joyful backing vocalists. Similarly, M.F.S.B. lock into this joyous sound, with strings swirling, horns braying and the rhythm section providing the song’s heartbeat. Overall, it’s an uplifting, joyous and hook laden track, which has an irresistibly catchy sound.
Side two of Mighty Love opens with He’ll Never Love You Like I Do, a mid-tempo track. It opens with piano and Norman Harris’ chiming guitar combining gently, before horns and Earl Young’s subtly drum enter. With a lovely subtle backdrop, Bobby gives a tender and heartfelt delivery of the lyrics, warning his ex-girlfriend that her new man will never love her like he does. With the other Detroit Spinners and female backing vocalists combining, this adds to the sense of sadness and loss, in Bobby’s voice. Rasping horns and drums add bursts of drama, as a heartbroken Bobby promises love and happiness, while Linda Creed and Barbara Ingram are among the backing vocalists, who gently accompany him. By the end of the track you find yourself rooting for a desperate and bereft Bobby, hoping that he’ll be given another chance by his ex-girlfriend. That’s the power of this track, and the emotion involved in both Bobby’s vocal and Thom Bell’s subtle, yet emotive arrangement.
Love Has Gone Away is a very different track, when it opens. A funk drenched and dramatic Baker, Harris and Young rhythm section combine punchy drums, buzzing bass and funky guitar, before keyboards, swirling strings and blazing horns enter, giving the track a classic M.F.S.B. sound and feel. They give way to Bobby’s searing, soaring vocal, while tight harmonies accompany him. Meanwhile, Earl’s drums drive the track along, his hi-hats, hissing, as he provides a funky and dramatic heartbeat. Horns blaze and rasp, as keyboards, chiming guitars and grand strings combine to provide a powerful, dramatic, sweeping backdrop for The Detroit Spinners. As if sensing this arrangement is something special, Bobby and the rest of the guys, up their game, producing a dynamic and energetic vocal, fitting for this drama drenched arrangement that combines a majestic combination of soul and funk.
After the welcome diversion into funky territory, things change with the gorgeous Love Don’t Love Nobody, a piano lead ballad, with one of the most thoughtful and emotional vocals on the album. The arrangement sees Bobby accompanied by the piano and rhythm section, who mostly play with subtly, but intersperse this subtly with brief bursts of drama. Mostly though, it’s just a lonely, Bobby accompanied by the rest of Detroit Spinners and backing vocalists, with the lush arrangement meandering along. Lush quivering, shivering strings join this slow, epic jam that lasts over seven minutes. When you listen to this gorgeous track, you realize just why it was so successful when released as the third single, reaching number four in the US R&B Charts and number fifteen in the US Billboard 200, and deservedly becoming a Quiet Storm classic in the process.
Mighty Love closes with the title track, Mighty Love, which was the first single released from the album, reaching number one in the US R&B Charts and number twenty in the US Billboard 100. The track opens with dramatic mixture of rhythm section, blazing horns and sweeping strings. As the arrangement becomes much more subtle, Bobby’s joyful vocal enters, with tight, sweet harmonies accompanies him. Behind him, M.F.S.B. are on top form, the dynamic rhythm section, swirling sweeping strings and rasping blazing horns combining perfectly with keyboards. On top of the arrangement sits Bobby’s powerful, soaring vocal, with the rest of the group harmonizing, and wave upon wave of the dramatic and dynamic arrangement unfolding. When this uplifting, catchy and hook laden track, ends you’re left thinking that The Detroit Spinners kept the best until last. After all, it’s best to end the album on a high.
On Mighty Love everything came together for The Detroit Spinners. It’s almost as if the stars were perfectly aligned. They had eight great songs to record, and were backed by one of the best bands of the time M.F.S.B. and were fortunate to have in Thom Bell, one of the most talented producers of all time. With that line-up, it’s no wonder that Mighty Love reached number one in the US R&B Charts and number sixteen in the US Billboard 200. Add to this three top ten US R&B singles, including the title track, Mighty Love, then 1973 had been a hugely successful year for The Detroit Spinners. Both Spinners, their first album for Atlantic and first album produced by Thom Bell and Mighty Love reached number one in the US R&B Charts and were certified gold. This successful period would continue until 1976, with 1974s New and Improved reaching number one in the US R&B Charts and number nine in the US Billboard, while Pick of the Litter reached number two in the US R&B Charts and number eight in the US Billboard 200. The final album during this successful period was Happiness Is Being With The Spinners, which reached number five in the US R&B Charts and number twenty in the US Billboard 200. Like Spinners and Mighty Love, these three albums were all certified gold. This was a remarkably successful period for The Detroit Spinners when not only did they produce some stunning music, but became one of the biggest and most commercially successful groups of this time. Although each of these five albums feature some outstanding music, Mighty Love is one of their most complete albums. Each of the eight tracks are of the highest quality and feature The Detroit Spinners at their very best. For anyone who hasn’t heard their music, one way to do so, is by buying the five disc box set The Original Spinners, which features The Detroit Spinners five best albums, starting with Spinners and ending with Happiness Is Being With The Spinners. That’s the perfect introduction to one of the biggest and best soul groups, The Detroit Spinners. Standout Tracks: Since I Been Gone, I’m Glad You Walked Into My Life, He’ll Never Love You Like I Do and Mighty Love.
THE DETROIT SPINNERS-MIGHTY LOVE.
DONNY HATHAWAY-DONNY HATHAWAY
DONNY HATHAWAY-DONNY HATHAWAY
After listening to Lala Hathaway’s album Where It All Begins, I thought that I’d revisit her father Donny Hathaway’s eponymous second album, Donny Hathaway. Previously, I’ve written about Donny’s stunning debut album Everything Is Everything, released in July 1970. On its release, the critically acclaimed Everything Is Everything reached number seventy-three in the US Billboard 200 and number thirty-three in the US R&B Charts. Considering the quality of music this must have been slightly disappointing for Donny. However, his next album Donny Hathaway was much more successful, when it was released.
Having released such a well received album, the pressure was on Donny to record his second album. Recorded at the Atlantic Recording Studios in New York, during 1970 and 1971, were nine songs. With Jerry Wexler, Arif Mardin and Donny producing the album, these nine songs were mostly cover versions of soul, gospel and pop music, which Donny gave his own unique twist. With an all-star band accompanying him, that included a rhythm section of Cornell Dupree and Chuck Rainey on bass, drummer Al Jackson Jr and guitarists Phil Upchurch and Cornell Dupree and the unique sound of tenor saxophonist King Curtis gracing the album, nine tracks were soon recorded. Adding backing vocalists were two of The Sweet Inspirations Cissy Houston and Myrna Smith, while Myna Summers and a number of other backing vocalists accompanied Donny. With the album recorded, it was scheduled for release in April 1971.
April 1971 saw Donny’s second album Donny Hathaway released. With songs by Van McCoy, Leon Russell, Billy Preston and Mac Davis on the album, plus one song co-written by Donny with Nadine McKinnor, the album was well received by critics. On its release, it reached number six in the US R&B Charts and number eighty-nine in the US Billboard 200. Sales of Donny Hathaway surpassed Everything Is Everything, although it’s considered to be Donny’s finest album.
Having released what was his second critically acclaimed and commercially successful album, Donny would enter one of the busiest times of his tragically short career. In 1972, he released a trio of albums, two of which were huge commercial successes. Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway reached number three in the US Billboard 200 and number two in the US R&B Charts, while his Live album reached number fourteen in the US Billboard 200 and number four in the US R&B Charts. Both were certified gold, having sold over 500,000 copies. The only album from this trio that failed commercially, was the soundtrack album Come Back Charleston Blue, which reached number 198 in the US Billboard 200. Little did anyone know it, but after this Donny would only release one further album, before his life ended in tragedy.
The final album of Donny’s career was Extension of A Man, released in June 1973. Recording of the album had taken place between 1971 and 1973, and featured some of the most memorable music of Donny’s career, including the brilliant and powerful Someday We’ll All be free. When the album was released, it didn’t sell as well as it’s predecessor Donny Hathaway, only reaching number sixty-nine in the US Billboard 200 and number eighteen in the US R&B Charts, After this, Donny would release no new albums, only a Greatest Hits album in 1978, which reached number fifty-one in the US R&B charts.
Sadly, tragedy struck for Donny and his family, when in January 1979. Donny became unwell during a recording session with Roberta Flack. Having become paranoid and delusional, the recording sessions were stopped and Donny sent back to his hotel. Later he committed suicide, by jumping out of the fifteenth floor of his room at New York’s Essex House Hotel. After his death, his wife Eulaulah thought that over time, Donny had gradually become less careful about taking his medication. Tragically, the problems with mental illness that caused him problems throughout his career resulted in him taking his life. That day, music lost one its most talented singers whose musical influence is still felt over thirty years after his tragic death. One ofthe three critically acclaimed albums he released during his lifetime is Donny Hathaway, is a stunning album which I’ll now tell you about.
Donny Hathaway opens with Giving Up a song written by Van McCoy, the singer, songwriter, arranger and producer, best known for his hit single The Hustle. Giving Up had originally been sung by Gladys Knight and The Pips, but Donny transforms Van’s song, with a gospel tinged rendition of the lyrics. Not only is this a beautiful song, but one that’s hugely powerful. Against a dramatic arrangement, where a piano, rasping horns, rhythm section and searing guitars combine to accompany Donny’s vocal. Quickly, the arrangement returns to a more understated, but still dramatic sound, as Donny’s voice soars emotively, with a gospel influence present in his vocal and the arrangement. Gradually, the beauty and emotion of the arrangement, reveals itself, with flourishes of piano, powerful drums, lush, shimmering, quivering strings and King Curtis’ saxophone drenching the arrangement with its sad yet, gorgeous sound. The song continues for nearly six and a half magnificent and majestic minutes, during Donny and his band deliver the definitive version of this deeply moving and powerful track.
After such an outstanding opening track, you get the feeling that Donny set the bar high by opening the album with Giving Up, and how will A Song For You Compare? The answer to that is simple, and that’s by producing a quite inspirational version of this Leon Russell penned track. With Donny’s fingers cascading down the piano, the track opens, before giving way to his gentle, thoughtful. As he sings the lyric, “we’re all alone and I’m singing this song for you,” that’s what it feels like. There’s a sense of intimacy, with just the combination of Donny and piano, and it seems like he is indeed singing the lyrics just for you. You become enthralled, before the strings, bass and woodwind enter. They combine beautifully with Donny and the piano, the sound subtle, so much so, you can’t bear to miss a second of the track. There’s a beauty to the lyrics when Donny sings tenderly about love and his relationship and feelings, and then when sings “when my life is over”, there’s a sense of poignancy in the lyrics. Behind him, there’s mostly, a classical sound to the arrangement, but sometimes, a bluesy sound and feel. One thing that’s constant however, is the inherent beauty of both Donny’s emotive and heartfelt arrangement and the understated and thoughtful arrangement. They combine beautifully, resulting in one of the album’s highlights.
Little Girl was written by Billy Preston, who was one of a few people who worked with both The Beatles and Rolling Stones. This is a lovely slow track, with a combination of piano, wailing organ and backing vocals opening the track, before another emotional vocal from Donny enters. With the rhythm section playing slowly and carefully, there’s some clever interplay between Donny and the backing vocalists, before the song opens out. A sad sounding Donny asks why his “little girl” had to leave him, asking “where did you go.” By now, the slow arrangement builds and builds, with the emotion and sadness tangible in the song. Donny’s delivery of the lyrics is outstanding, with the emotion rising as she sings “you don’t know how it’s been without the baby.” Adding to the sense of emotion and loneliness are blazing horns, which punctuate the track. This is just the finishing touch to a song that Donny brilliantly to life, delivering thoughtfully and emotionally.
Having heard many indifferent versions of He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother, it’s a welcome change to hear the song sung so beautifully. With a piano, chiming guitars and rhythm section subtly accompanying Donny, he tenderly sings the lyrics about brotherhood, with bells subtly used to augment the arrangement. They combine perfectly with the piano and later the drama laden strings. Again, Donny succeeds in bringing the lyrics to life like no other singer I’ve heard can. What is usually an overblown, middle of the road standard, is transformed into something quite beautiful, and almost spiritual. One thing that helps the song is the slow, with a mostly understated arrangement. Combined with a gentle, tender vocal from Donny the song’s transformation is complete, becoming a thoughtful, moving and quite beautiful song, that closes side one of Donny Hathaway.
Side two of Donny Hathaway opens with Booker T and The MGs drummer Al Jackson Jr providing the heartbeat to Magnificent Sanctuary Band, while Donny almost raps about the thrill and excitement of seeing a good marching band live, not on television. With handclaps, rhythm section and backing vocalists barking out 1-2-3-4, Donny remembers the excitement of seeing the marching band for the first time. Horns rasp behind him, while flourishes of piano and supremely, soulful backing vocalists accompany Donny’s sweet vocal. Although very different from the other tracks on the album, this is a really uplifting, joyous and catchy track, especially when Donny and the backing vocalists unite, transforming the song into an almost swinging, spiritual track with a gospel flavour.
When you hear the stunningly, beautiful She Is My Lady, you wouldn’t imagine that this was written by George Clinton. It’s the diametric opposite of George’s Funkadelic and Parliament music. Instead, it’s a beautiful, slow ballad with backing gospel tinged backing vocalists accompanying Donny. From the opening bars, you realize that you’re privileged to hear something as special as this. A piano gently plays, before Donny slowly and thoughtfully sings of his love for the woman who makes his life worthwhile and meaningful. Gradually, the arrangement builds, with strings sweeping in, before the rhythm section and piano add a sense of drama. They give way to the gospel tinged backing vocalists who add to the sense that this song’s roots are an in the church. They help the song to grow, as do rasping horns and lush strings, which combine perfectly with the piano and add a sense of drama. As the song grows and grows, the emotion and beauty grows, reaching a dramatic and gospel drenched crescendo.
I Believe In Music was written by Mac Davis, who also wrote In the Ghetto. Again, the song features some gospel inspired backing vocals. With the rhythm section, piano and backing vocalists accompanying Donny, he sings about his belief in music to stop conflict and inspire people. Quivering, shivering strings enter, as Donny’s voice soars, while the backing vocalists contribute a combination of soul and gospel styled vocals. Later, a flute floats briefly above the arrangement, and is replaced by tambourine and flourishes of piano, while Donny and his backing vocalists joyously deliver the lyrics.
Just a combination of piano and rhythm section opens Take A Love Song, the only song written by Donny, with Nadine McKinnor. The lyrics are beautiful, Donny’s delivery thoughtful and filled hope and emotion. Behind him, the arrangement grows to include shimmering strings, rasping horns and backing vocalists, whose united voices soar impressively. With Donny playing piano with a flourish, and his voice emotive and powerful, he combines perfectly with the female backing vocalists, as the arrangement builds and builds, strings and horns at the heart of this dramatic arrangement.
Donny Hathaway closes with the spiritual Put Your Hand In the Hand, which features an understated arrangement with just Donny, piano and arrangement combining. The only time the arrangement grows is when the backing vocalists sweep in, with their gospel influenced vocals combining perfectly with Donny. This understated and sympathetic arrangement seems totally in keeping with the religious lyrics. It’s a joyful and uplifting way to end what’s been a stunning album, one of the best soul albums of 1971, which was great year for soul music.
To me, Donny Hathaway’s eponymous second album, Donny Hathaway is one of these rare albums, that doesn’t have a bad song on it. This is unusual, as usually, there’s a song that lets an album down. Not here. There are neither any bad songs, nor any filler, just nine great tracks. These tracks demonstrate how hugely talented a singer and musician Donny Hathaway was. Although he only released three studio albums as a solo artist, there’s more quality in these three albums than there is in twenty albums by other artists. From the opening bars of Donny Hathaway until the final notes, you’re enthralled, taken on a stunning and magical musical journey that encompasses soul and gospel music, with Donny as your guide. You find yourself transfixed, awaiting the next song with anticipation, listening to every subtlety and nuance. When the album ends, you can’t help but listen again, just in case you missed anything the last time. What happens is that each time you listen to the album, the more you grow to love it. It quickly becomes like a trusted friend, and you’re drawn to it time and time again. That’s what’s happened to me. Over the years I’ve grown to cherish Donny Hathaway, and his two other albums Everything Is Everything and Extensions of A Man. On this trio of albums is some of the best, most healing and uplifting music that you’ll ever be privileged to hear. If you’ve never heard Donny Hathaway, or any of Donny’s other albums, then now is the time to let his stunning music enter your life. Once you’ve done so, you’ll never regret it, and like me, cherish the music of the late, great Donny Hathaway, a true legend of soul music. Standout Tracks: Giving Up, A Song For You, She Is My Lady and I Believe In Music.
DONNY HATHAWAY-DONNY HATHAWAY
DJ ROGERS-ON THE ROAD AGAIN.
DJ ROGERS-ON THE ROAD AGAIN.
Some time ago, I wrote about DJ Rogers debut album for RCA Records It’s Good To Be Alive, released in 1975, which gave him a hit album, reaching number thirty-six US R&B charts. Sadly, the story of DJ Rogers is one of an artist with a huge amount of talent, whose music sadly, never reached the commercial heights it deserved. During a four year period between 1975 and 1978, DJ released three highly regarded albums for RCA Records, two of which gave him minor chart success. For such a gifted and talented singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, this was a disappointing result. Like so many other gifted and talented artists, like Bettye Swann, Doris Troy and OV Wright, DJ Rogers joins the list of artists whose talents hugely outweigh their commercial success.
Since his career started in 1973, DJ has only released six studio albums, the last of these in 1979. From his eponymous debut album released in 1973, entitled DJ Rogers, DJ’s career has been beset by bad luck and unlucky breaks. His debut album DJ Rogers, released on Shelter Records, progress was hampered by distribution and marketing problems, and the album failed to chart. DJ’s big break came when he signed a contract with one of the biggest labels of the time, RCA.
Between 1975 and 1978, three albums were released. It’s Good To Be Alive was the first of this trio, released in 1975, which reached number thirty-six on the US R&B Charts. On the album was a song that for many people, is synonymous with DJ Rogers, Say You Love Me. When it was released as a single, it reached number ninety-eight in the US Billboard 100 and number fifty-one on the US R&B Charts. This gentle and beautiful piano lead ballad gave DJ one of the biggest hits of his career, signed to Columbia, where he released Love Brought Me Back, in 1978, which reached number fifty-four in the R&B charts. Once again, DJ changed label, signing to ARC Records, releasing one album, Trust Me in 1979 and was his only single to enter the US Billboard 100. Things improved for DJ with the release of his next album, On the Road Again, which this review is about.
On the Road Again was recorded during 1976, at studios B and C of RCA’s Music Centre of the World Studios. With what was an all-star band accompanying DJ. Ten songs eight of which DJ wrote himself, and two with Lonnie Simmons were recorded, on album that was a combination of soul and funk. Accompanying DJ on the album were drummer Harvey Mason, whose trademark drum sound graced so many albums during the seventies. Also playing drums, was Jeff Porcaro, founder of Toto, and who as a session musician played with artists ranging from Steely Dan and Pink Floyd to George Benson and Diana Ross. With trombonist George Bohannon, pianist Jerry Peters, organist Michael Wycoff and The Gap Band all contributing to the album, DJ cut the ten tracks which made up On the Road Again.
When On the Road Again was released later in 1976, it reached number 175 in the US Billboard 200, and was the only one of DJ’s six albums to enter the US Billboard 200. Meanwhile, the album only reached number forty-nine in the US R&B Charts, failing to match the number thirty-six of its predecessor, It’s Good To Be Alive. Only one single was released from the album. This was Let My Life Shine which reached number seventy-eight in the US R&B Charts. Having had an album that entered the US Billboard 200 and US R&B Charts, a minor hit single, DJ must have thought that his career was on the up, when he contemplated recording his third album for RCA. However, that wasn’t to be the case.
Love, Music and Life was recorded and released in 1977, and again saw DJ work with some hugely talented musicians on the album. Musicians Kenni Burke, Wah Wah Watson and Jeff Porcaro all played on the album, while Cheryl Lynn and Deniece Williams were just two of the backing vocalists on the album. However, when Love, Music and Life was released in 1977, it failed to chart. This was hugely disappointing for DJ, given the quality of music on the album. Sadly, this was the last album DJ recorded for RCA. After this, DJ would release just two further albums.
Having left RCA, DJ signed to Columbia Records, where he released Love Brought Me Back, which reached number fifty-four in the R&B charts. Two singles were released from the album All My Love, which reached number eighty-seven in the US R&B Charts. The second single released from the album was Love Brought Me Back, the title track. This gave DJ the biggest hit single of his career, reaching number forty in the the US R&B Charts. Even after a relatively successful album and two singles, DJ left Columbia, signing for Maurice White of Earth, Wind and Fire ARC Records label, for whom he released just one album Trust Me, in 1979. Sadly, this proved to be the last album DJ Rogers released, during his career. He’d later collaborate with a number of artists, including Patrice Rushden an R&B singer and keyboard player, in 1980. Towards the mid to late eighties, DJ worked with a number of gospel singers, including Keith Pringle. However, DJ Rogers never returned to secular music, and the three albums he recorded for RCA, are considered to be the best work of his short career. One of these albums was On the Road Again, which I’ll now tell you about.
On the Road Again opens with the title track, On the Road Again, one of eight tracks DJ wrote himself. It’s a track with an unusual opening with a spoken word sample giving way to beautiful combination of the lushest of strings and a choir of soulful backing vocalists. They’re followed by DJ’s vocal which is full emotion and frustration as he sings about life on the road as a singer and musician. If this song is autobiographical then the life of a singer and musician is neither glamorous, nor well paid . Against a slow and beautiful backdrop of rhythm section, guitars, slow strings and the backing vocalists, DJ gives a heartfelt delivery of the lyrics, displaying a voice that’s one part raw emotion to part frustration.
One More Day has similarities to the opening track, with a guitar, funky bass and Harvey Mason’s drums combining, before strings and backing vocalists enter. DJ’s vocal is strong, yet soulful, and the backing vocalists provide a contrast to his vocal, amidst the blazing horns and funk drenched rhythm section. Later DJ adds a wailing Hammond organ to the arrangement, which by now is combining elements of funk and soul with the gospel influenced backing vocalists. The result is an excellent song that swings along.
The tempo drops on Love Can Be Found, a slow and sad sounding track, that features backing vocalists sweeping in tenderly. With a combination of rhythm section, chiming guitars and keyboards accompanying him, a optimistic DJ believes that somewhere love can be found. As the song progresses, the hope and passion in voice grows, as he almost growls the lyrics, against a much more understated arrangement. This is perfect for the song, allowing one of the most powerful and passionate vocals from DJ on the album to shine and take centre-stage.
Let My Life Shine Part 1 opens with tinkling keyboards giving way to a backing vocalist singing the refrain from the opening track, On The Road Again. After this a moody and dramatic combination of flourishes of piano and keyboards combine. the drama builds and builds, as strings sweep in, with the track having a cinematic quality, that would work well at the dramatic climax of a film. However, regardless of how good this sounds, it seems out of place here, and doesn’t quite fit with the rest of the album.
Logically after Let My Life Shine Part 1, comes Let My Life Shine Part 2. This is a very different and much better track. Swirling strings, a funk drenched rhythm section and guitars accompany gospel tinged backing vocalists, before DJ’s impassioned and sad vocal enters. As the track flows along, a series of funky breakdowns occur, before the backing vocals and then DJ’s vocal enters. Each vie for centre-stage, the other taking turns at outdoing the other on what’s a quite brilliant and hugely moving, especially DJ’s vocal which is laden with emotion and totally heartfelt.
Secret Lady is one of these what if songs, about a lady who could’ve been someone, achieved things and gone on to greatness. With a lovely slow and melodic arrangement where the rhythm section, chiming, shimmering guitars and keyboards accompany DJ’s vocal, the song gradually unfolds, revealing its beauty. Later blazing horns enter, then soulful backing vocalists unite, adding to this smooth, gently funky track. Meanwhile, DJ’s vocal grows in passion and emotion, venting his frustration at the what might have been queen he’s singing about, during this lovely track.
A philosophical DJ greets the listener on Holding On To Love, as DJ ponders the material things he’s owned and enjoyed, clothes, houses and jewellery but remembers the one constant in his life, love. During another slow track, where guitars, rhythm section and keyboards provide a meandering and thoughtful backdrop for DJ’s vocal, an almost lovestruck DJ sings how he’s a slave to his partner’s love, and never sees himself free. The arrangement has a subtle, understated sound, guitars shimmering and quivering, while DJ half-speaks the lyrics. This is effective, and later, and when his voice soars powerfully, he’s joined by backing vocalists, who together with guitars and the rhythm section accompany him to the songs emotive and dramatic crescendo.
After the philosophical Holding On To Love, DJ decides it’s time for a love song, Girl, I Love You. With a gently funky combination of chiming guitars, funky rhythm section and keyboards DJ tenderly sings about how despite his faults, he loves and needs his partner. As the song meanders beautifully along, the track is catchy and has a really smooth sound. Later, DJ and his band decide the time is right for a short funk masterclass, with DJ and a talented band briefly displaying their considerable talents. Blazing horns join the track, as the guitars and rhythm section strut their stuff. This is an impressive display and like the rest of the track sounds fantastic, so much so, it’s one of the album’s highlights.
Only While It Lasts sees a a pessimistic and sad DJ, sing about how nothing lasts, and everything is temporary. With just a combination of piano and guitar accompanying DJ the song has a sad and pensive sound, but the lyrics ring true, and many people will be able to relate to them. Although the arrangement is particularly spartan, it’s perfect for the lyrics. So is DJ’s thoughtful and pensive delivery of them, and the result is a track that can’t fail to make you think.
On the Road Again closes with a short track Say You Love Me One More Time. After announcing that time’s running short, DJ the delivers a short and hugely catchy, swinging track. With joyous sounding, gospel tinged backing vocalists accompanying him, DJ then throws a curve ball, with everything then changing. What follows is the track starts to swing along, with a funk drenched rhythm section and guitars, accompany a testifying DJ, with the backing vocalists accompanying him. With horns braying and blazing, the track swings along, with the pity being that the track lasts only two and a half fantastic minutes. As the track ends, you find yourself thinking what a way to end the album.
The story of DJ Rogers career is one of unfulfilled potential, and of an artist who through no fault of his own, had a few bad breaks along the way. After the lack of success of the single Say You Love Me on RCA Records, DJ issued one of several angry responses to his label’s treatment of his music. These featured in the pages of Soul Magazine, and were the result of what DJ saw as a lack or promotion of his music. One wonders whether if he’d been with a label that had done more to promote his music whether he’d have been a much bigger success. Certainly DJ Rogers was a hugely successful singer, songwriter and musician, who was able to arrange and produce his own music. How many other artists were as talented as this? The three albums he recorded for RCA featured the best music of his sadly, short career. Of these albums On the Road Again is my favorite album of the three. On the album, DJ masterfully fuses soul, funk and even elements of gospel brilliantly. With a talented band and what sounds like a choir of backing vocalists backing him, ten great songs were recorded for On the Road Again, a hugely underrated album. Thankfully, you can now hear On the Road Again, along with DJ Rogers two other RCA albums, It’s Good To Be Alive and Love, Life and Music. These three albums are available as part of a two disc set on the BMG label. This is the perfect introduction to the music of a hugely talented singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist DJ Rogers, a man who deserved to be a huge star. Standout Tracks: One More Day, Love Can Be Found, Girl, I Love You and Only While It Lasts.
DJ ROGERS-ON THE ROAD AGAIN.
THE O’JAYS-IDENTIFY YOURSELF.
THE O’JAYS-IDENTIFY YOURSELF.
The O’Jays 1979 album Identify Yourself was the last in a series of eight albums the group released on Philadelphia International Records that was either certified gold or platinum. This remarkable sequence of hugely commercial and critically acclaimed albums started in November 1972, with their debut album for Philadelphia International Back Stabbers, which reached number ten in the US Billboard 200 and number three in the US R&B Charts. This lead to the group receiving what would be the first of four gold discs. Back Stabbers also featured the groups first two number one singles, Back Stabbers and Love Train. However, things got even better the following year, 1973.
Ship Ahoy, released in November 1973, fared even better reaching number eleven in the US Billboard 200 and number one in the US R&B Charts. Not only did this result in the first of their four platinum discs, but the first of four number one US R&B albums. Now eight years after their debut album Comin’ Through The O’Jays patience and persistence had been rewarded, and little did they know that this would continue and that they were entering one of the most successful periods of their career.
1975 proved to be the biggest year of The O’Jays career, releasing two critically acclaimed and commercially successful albums. When Survival was released in April 1975, it gave The O’Jays their second number one US R&B album, which reaching number eleven in the US Billboard 200. This resulted in gold disc number two. By now, the Gamble and Huff partnership with The O’Jays was proving extremely fruitful, with Survival featuring the group’s third number US R&B single Give the People What They Want. Later in 1975, The O’Jays released Family Reunion, which became their most successful album to date, reaching number seven in the US Billboard 200 and number one in the US R&B Charts. Having sold over a million copies, the album was certified platinum. Adding to this success were two US R&B number one singles, the joyful I Love Music and Living For the Weekend. By now The O’Jays were one of the jewels in the Philadelphia international crown, with 1975 being the group’s most successful year.
After the huge success of 1975, it was always going to be difficult to replicate that success. The O’Jays only released one album that year, Message In the Music, which reached number twenty in the US Billboard 200 and number three in US R&B Charts. It was certified gold, and one of the songs on the album not only gave the group another number one, but became one of the group’s most popular songs. This was Darlin, Darlin’ Baby (Sweet, Tender, Love). However, during this year, tragedy struck for The O’Jays. William Powell, one of the original members died of cancer, in May 1975.
Having lost William Powell, the group Sammy Strain was brought onboard to replace him, and Travellin’ At the Speed of Thought was the first album to feature his vocals. Released in May 1977, the album reached number twenty-seven in the US Billboard 200 and number six in the US R&B Charts. This resulted in another gold disc for The O’Jays, the fourth of their career. Although the loss of William Powell had been a huge blow, new member Sammy Strain had fitted in well and his first album with the group had been well received and a commercial success. However, the next two albums would see The O’Jays receive two further platinum discs.
The first of these albums was So Full of Love, released in 1978. It became the group’s most successful album, reaching number six in the US Billboard 200 and number one in the US R&B Charts. With their third number one US R&B album and platinum disc, things got even better when Use Ta Be My Girl gave The O’Jays their eighth number one US R&B single. This success continued to their next album Identify Yourself, which this article is about.
Identify Yourself was recorded during 1978 and 1979 at the Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia, where so many of the great records of The Philly Sound era were recorded. With four songs written and produced by Gamble and Huff, one written and produced by Thom Bell and three by two of The O’Jays Eddie Lever and Walter Williams, Identify Yourself was full of some great music. Also working on Identify Yourself were some of the most creative and talented people at Philadelphia International. This included arrangers John R Faith, John Usry Jr and Dexter Wansell, it seemed that Gamble and Huff were determined that The O’Jays incredible run of success would continue. Their gamble paid off, with the album well received by critics and reaching number sixteen in the US Billboard 200 and number three in the US R&B Charts, resulting in platinum disc number four. Two singles were released from the album Sing A Happy Song and Forever Mine. Sing A Happy Song only reached a disappointing 102 in the US Billboard 100, but fared better in the US R&B Charts reaching number seven. Forever Mine reached number four in the US R&B Charts and number forty-nine in the US Billboard 100, becoming the last of The O’Jays singles to reach the top fifty.
Sadly, after Identify Yourself, The O’Jays never reached the same heights commercially on Philadelphia International, and their only album to match their earlier success was Emotionally Yours, on EMI America which reached number seventy-three in the US Billboard 200 and number two in the US R&B Charts, and was certified gold. However, when The O’Jays released Identify Yourself they’d no idea that this remarkable run of hugely successful albums was ending. It seems almost fitting that this run ended with such as good an album as Identify Yourself, which I’ll now tell you about.
Identify Yourself opens with the first of four Gamble and Huff penned tracks Sing A Happy Song, one of the singles released from the album. A combination of fast pounding drums and keyboards open the track before The O’Jays combine to contribute joyous harmonies. These give way to a combination of rhythm section, guitars and percussion, before Eddie’s vocal soars, a mixture of joy and power. Behind him, Walter and Sammy sing backing vocals, while strings sweep, horns rasp and flourishes of piano add to what’s a fast, joyous and catchy track, where as usual with a Gamble and Huff penned and produced track, hooks are certainly not in short supply. One things that’s noticeable is the drum sound, and how many house producers have either deliberately or inadvertently used the drum sound on tracks like this for inspiration. They all owe the many drummers, including Earl Young who played on many early Philadelphia International albums, a huge debt of gratitude.
Although Get On Out and Party isn’t as quick as the opening track, it’s still one of the many dance-floor friendly tracks on the album. Co-written by Walter Williams with Terry Stubbs, Leroy Simmons and Mike Jackson, it’s a track that gives no indication of it direction or intention when it begins. After a combination of rhythm section and guitars combine before the vocal enters, you get the idea that something special is about to unfold. You’re not disappointed when a combination of sweeping, swirling strings, blazing horns, chiming guitars and punchy, driving rhythm section combine with The O’Jays. The lead vocal changes hands several time, with Eddie, Walter and Sammy combining well, the contrast in their voices working well. With punchy drums, rasping horns and handclaps accompanying them, they provide some good time party music, that combines elements of soul, funk and disco. This combination works well, resulting in a track that not only sounds great, but is so catchy it’s almost infectious.
Identify is the second Gamble and Huff penned and produced track, featuring a great arrangement from one of the best arrangers at Philadelphia International, John Usry Jr. His stomping arrangement features the rhythm section, braying horns and sweeping strings at its heart, while a searing guitar solo cuts through the track. Meanwhile flourishes of piano add contrast as the drums are fast and punchy, and key to the arrangement. Meanwhile, the song features some clever interplay between The O’Jays, with them singing the song in a call and response style. Eddie sings one line, with Walter and Sammy replying in the next. As their powerful, emotive voices sing about identity, and how there’s no middle ground, with friendship and conflict, peace and war, the right and left politically all examples of this. Perfect for these almost angry lyrics is the stomping drumbeat that plays such a vital part throughout this thoughtful and intelligent song.
Closing side one of Identify Yourself is So Nice I Tried It Twice, a love song. The tempo remains the same as the previous track, with lush, swirling strings playing an important role in the arrangement. They combine with a funk drenched bass and soaring guitar before Eddie’s joyful vocal enters, with Walter and Sammy singing harmonies. With percussion augmenting the sound, the sings sweeps and flows along, with a rocky sounding guitar drifting in and out of the track, while keyboards and that funky bass contribute towards this fast, furious and funky track. Like Get On Out and Party, this track merges the best of soul and funk with elements of disco, resulting in another joyful, uptempo track from The O’Jays, that must have filled many a dance-floor back in 1979.
Side two of Identify Yourself sees O’Jays Eddie Levert and Walter Williams combine with Mike Jackson to write the beautiful Hurry Up and Come Back. When the track opens, a hesitant combination of chiming guitars and rhythm section give no indication of what will unfold. Against a backdrop of lush strings, rhythm section, chiming guitars and keyboard Eddie gives a heartfelt and sad vocal, as he pleads for his lover to come back. Behind him, Walter and Sammy contribute some of the best harmonies on the album, that matches the emotion and beauty of Eddie’s lead vocal. Like the vocal, the arrangement has a really emotive and sometimes, dramatic sound, which builds and builds. By the end of the what’s one of the best tracks on the album, Eddie and Walter deserve credit not just for their songwriting ability, but for their production skills, as they co-produced the album. Credit must also be given to Dunn Pearson, for his stunning arrangement.
It seems that album is on a roll now, with Forever Mine, another of the Gamble and Huff songs another of the album’s highlights. John R Faith’s arrangement and Gamble and Huff’s production, combined with some beautiful, tender and thoughtful vocals from The O’Jays all play their part in the song’s success. The arrangement has an almost understated sound for much of the track, developing into a more powerful, dramatic sound later. For much of the track, it meanders along with chiming, shimmering guitars, sweeping strings and rhythm section combining beautifully. Later, blazing horns and the rhythm section combine powerfully, adding a dramatic element to the arrangement. However, what really makes the track are some lovely, gentle vocals from Eddie, Walter and Sammy, as they swear undying love to the woman they love and want to spend their lives with. When they’re combined with the arrangement, the result is one of the best songs on Identify Yourself.
After a brilliant Gamble and Huff penned and produced track, they provide yet another fantastic track, I Want You Here With Me. With John R Faith arranging the track, another great track reveals itself and reveals how prolific Gamble and Huff were when it came to writing and producing quality songs. A punchy and hooky combination of rhythm section and guitars, gives way to Eddie’s lovestruck, emotive vocal WWalter and Sammy accompany him, as he pleads for his partner to return to him, as he can’t stand being so far away from her. Adding to the emotion and beauty of the track are slow, lush strings, percussion, keyboards and organ. Later horns punctuate the track, as the arrangement takes a dramatic turn, matching the heartache and longing in Eddie’s vocal. This masterful combination results in the third great track in a row, with the Gamble and Huff and Jack R Faith partnership demonstrating just how to produce and arrange a track properly.
Identify Yourself closes with a track written by Thom Bell and Joseph Ericksen, One In A Million (Girl). This is the only Thom Bell produced track on the album, and was arranged by Anthony Bell. It’s a mid-tempo track that opens brightly with strings swirling dramatically, a powerful rhythm section and guitars giving way to Eddie’s dramatic and emotional vocal as he sings about having found a girl who he loves so much and how she’s one in a million. Behind him, William and Sammy contribute subtle harmonies, allowing a heartfelt vocal from Eddie to take centre-stage. As the strings sweep and swirl, rasping horns and punchy drums dramatically punctuate the arrangement, adding to the emotion of the vocal and song. After such a beautiful, dramatic and emotive song, you realize that this is the perfect song to end the album. It would be a hard track to better, and it’s always best to finish an album on a positive note. This is the case here, a great song to end what’s been an excellent album.
Little did The O’Jays know it at the time, but Identify Yourself was the last of their Philadelphia International albums to result in either a gold or platinum disc. Although their next two albums 1980s The Year 2000 and My Favorite Person released in 1982, both sold well, reaching numbers six and seven respectively in the US R&B Charts, their hugely successful commercial period had ended. However, a total of four gold discs, four platinum discs and four number one US R&B albums between 1972 and 1979 made The O’Jays one of the most successful soul groups in musical history, In fact, records show that they’re the sixteenth most successful artist or group in the history of soul music. During that period however, they were fortunate to be on one the greatest labels in America, Philadelphia International Records. With Gamble and Huff guiding their career, The O’Jays went from a group who previously, had never had a hit album, to a group who released eight critically acclaimed and commercially successful albums in a seven year period. They became one of Philadelphia International’s most successful acts, recording music which is not only stunning, but timeless. Over thirty years later, their music sounds just as good as it did when it was released. This includes Identify Yourself, an album crammed full of some fantastic music, including four great tracks from Gamble and Huff, who must go down in musical history as one of the greatest and most prolific songwriting and production partnerships ever. Along with Thom Bell they gave the world The Philly Sound. One of these groups were The O’Jays who produced so many fantastic albums for Philadelphia International, including Identify Yourself, which features some wonderful joyous and emotive music, sung by Eddie Levert, Walter Williams and Sammy Strain. Together they were The O’Jays, one of the finest purveyors of The Philly Sound. Standout Tracks: Sing A Happy Song, So Nice I Tried It Twice, Hurry Up and Come Back and Forever Mine.
THE O’JAYS-IDENTIFY YOURSELF.
ESTHER PHILLIPS-YOU’VE COME A LONG WAY, BABY.
ESTHER PHILLIPS-YOU’VE COME A LONG WAY, BABY.
Not only did Esther Phillips have one of the most distinctive voices in music, but she was one of the most versatile vocalists of her generation. Whether it was soul, jazz, blues or even funk or disco, she could handle a song with aplomb, and deliver it with her own unique style. During a recording career that spanned four decades, Esther she recorded twenty studio albums, for labels that included Atlantic, Kudi and Mercury, where she recorded the album this article is about You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby. Sadly, during her career, Esther suffered from drug abuse, which eventually contributed to her death in August 1984, when she died aged just forty-eight.
By the end of the sixties, Esther’s music had fallen out of favour. She’d recorded at total of five albums for Atlantic, during two periods with the label. Only her 1970 live album Burnin’, released during her second period with Atlantic charted, reaching number seven in the US R&B Charts. After leaving Atlantic for the second time, Esther would record for Kudi where she’d experience an upturn in her fortunes, and record some of the best and most successful music of her career.
Between 1970 and 1976, there was a resurgence in Esther’s career when she recorded some of her best and most commercially successful work for the Kudi label. Albums like 1972s From A Whisper To A Scream and Alone Again (Naturally), 1974s Black Eyed Blues and What A Difference A Day Makes in 1975, saw Esther’s music reach the top twenty in the US R&B Charts, becoming the most successful period of her career. After leaving Kudi, Esther recorded four albums for Mercury, which although they feature some great music, weren’t as commercially successful as the music she recorded for Kudi.
The first of four albums Esther recorded for Mercury was You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby, which was released in 1977. Although the music on the album was different to that of the last couple of albums she’d recorded for Kudi, one constant was arranger and producer Alfred Pee Wee Ellis. He’d previously, arranged Esther’s debut album for Kudu, From A Whisper To A Scream and played on two tracks on her final Kudu album Capricorn Princess. With Alfred arranging and producing Esther’s debut for Mercury, Esther, Alfred and her band headed to The Hit Factory, in New York. Among the musicians that played on You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby, were drummer Harvey Mason, whose distinctive drum sound features on so many albums of this time. Along with bassist Nathan Phillips a tight and experienced rhythm section born, and joined by a horn and string section. With the rest of the band, nine tracks were recorded. These were a mixture of uptempo, disco style tracks and beautiful ballads. One of the ballads was In A Soft and Subtle Way, while Somewhere Along the Way, co-written by Dinah Washington with Walter Merrick has a lovely bluesy style. On the album were cover versions of Rodgers and Hammerstein If I Loved You and Van Morrison’s Into the Mystic. You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby truly was an album full of variety, with something for everyone.
When You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby was released, it failed to chart and neither did the single Love Addict. This must have come as a huge disappointment to everyone involved, given the standard of music on the album. Sadly when Esther released her other three albums for Mercury neither 1978s All About Esther nor 1981s Good Black Is Hard To Crack charted. Only 1979s Here’s Esther, Are You Ready charted, reaching just number forty-seven in the US R&B Charts. After the commercial success of her albums for the Kudi label, it seemed that Esther couldn’t replicate this success for Mercury. Why is that? That’s what I hope to discover when I review You’ve Come A Long Way.
You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby opens the only single released from the album Love Addict, co-written by Denise La Salle and James Wolfe. Straight away, when the track opens a punchy rhythm section, guitars, keyboards and blazing horns accompany Esther, whose voice is laced with humor as he delivers the lyrics about being a love addict. Later strings sweep in joining the arrangement, helping the track to swing along. With chiming guitars, swirling strings and braying horns combining with the tight but punchy, rhythm section and Esther accompanied by backing vocalists, a hugely catchy, hooky track unfolds that sounds great.
After such a great opening track, the quality continues on You’ve Been A Good Ole Wagon, a much slower track. Chiming guitars and piano open the track, before Esther’s sultry, bluesy vocal enters. Esther interprets the song that Bessie Smith cowrote with John Henry, Perry Bradford and Stuart Balbomb, thoughtfully, while an organ adds a atmospheric sound. This track perfectly suits Esther’s voice, with her delivers of the lyrics in a slow, dramatic bluesy style quite beautiful,especially with the piano and guitar playing such an important role in the track.
If I Loved You is an uptempo, almost disco version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein song, with the piano, rhythm section and guitar combining, before Esther’s sassy vocal enters. As the arrangement sweeps along, with strings playing an important role in the track with the rhythm section and piano. Later in the track, the band combine jazz and funk, before driving the track along in a dance-floor friendly direction. By the end of the track, you realize that you’ve just heard Rodgers and Hammerstein arranged and sung in a way you’d never, ever have imagined. Although it sounds a good enough track, to me it just doesn’t quite work, the song neither suiting the arrangement, nor Esther’s vocal style
When the jazzy Somewhere Down the Line opens, a piano meanders beautifully along before Esther’s vocal enters. She delivers the song with a lovely jazzy style bringing to life Dinah Washington with Walter Merrick’s lyrics. Rasping horns enter later, adding to the song’s beauty, and not spoiling the understated quality of the arrangement. This song is much more suited to Esther’s voice, and her delivery of the lyrics is not only quite beautiful, but subtle and thoughtful, resulting in the best track on the album.
In A Soft and Subtle Way is by far the fastest song on the album, and sees a combination of tinkling keyboards, thoughtful rhythm section and gently, chiming guitars accompanying a restrained and subtle vocal from Esther. As the song meanders and floats along gentle, backing vocalists accompany Esther, before rasping horns enter. By then the track quickens, guitars chiming and shimmering, combining with keyboards and the rhythm section while horns punctuate the track, and Esther’s vocal occasionally grows in strength. However, mostly, her vocal has a subtlety and restrained delivered against a beautiful meandering arrangement from Alfred Pee Wee Ellis.
Unselfish Love bursts into life with swirling strings, a driving rhythm section and blazing horns accompanying Esther’s emotive and powerful vocal. Backing vocalists accompany her throughout this fast, furious and driving track. With horns braying, lush strings sweeping and swirling and flourishes of piano all playing important roles in the arrangement, this provides the perfect backdrop for Esther to be transformed into a disco diva. With the help of her backing vocalists, swathes of strings and blazing horns, this transformation is soon complete on what’s a hugely, catchy and great sounding, driving track.
During I’ve Never Been A Woman Before Esther ad-libs her way through the song, turning back the clock to remember her younger days and her first love, against a backdrop of soaring, chiming guitars and rhythm guitars. The track has a spacious sound, the band playing around and above Esther’s vocal as the song gradually reveals itself. Her half-spoken vocal gives way to a heartfelt delivery of the lyrics that sees keyboards join the guitars and rhythm section as Esther sings about her love for partner. Her voice soars, full of emotion, while the arrangement meanders along slowly. The interplay between Esther and the band works really well, they provide the perfect backdrop for her vocal to take centre-stage and shine during a heartfelt, emotive delivery of Ron Miller and Tom Baird’s lyrics. The result is one of the album’s highlights.
Demonstrating the sheer variety of music on the album is a cover version of Van Morrison’s Into the Music. It’s a very different version of the track, delivered thoughtfully by Esther, against a backdrop of slow, lush strings, blazing horns, chiming guitars and rhythm section. Although the arrangement stays true to parts of the original track, the two vocal styles are very different. Here, the arrangement veers between a slow, gentle style, to brief bursts of drama, while Esther’s sultry, searing vocal reinterpreting the track sympathetically. She doesn’t resort to any dramatics or theatricals, instead, giving an interesting and sometimes poignant and slightly jazzy delivery of Van Morrison’s track.
You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby closes with My Prayer. This isn’t the original track that was on the album, instead, it’s a nine minute extended version. When the track opens, a funk drenched rhythm section and guitars drive the track quickly along. Against fast drumbeats, a lilting, gentle vocal from Esther is joined by subtle, strings and rasping horns. A rock style guitar plays a prolonged solo when Esther’s vocal drops out, but is replaced by horns, strings and rhythm section when Esther’s vocal returns. Over nine minutes, this really catchy song sweeps along, with Esther’s voice growing in power. With backing vocalists accompanying her, this fast disco track sweeps brilliantly along, and by the end of the nine minutes you’re not only left with a smile on your face, but you want to hear more of its catchy, hook laden sound.
Like All About Esther, You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby is an album full of some great music. Sadly, it failed to match the commercial success of the albums Esther Phillips released for Kudi Records. With Alfred Pee Wee Ellis arranging and producing the album, and a talented group of musicians backing Esther, there was nothing wrong with the quality of music on the album. There’s everything from blues and jazz to ballads and disco on the album, even a cover of a Van Morrison track. Maybe the sheer variety of music on the album was part of the problem, because who was the album aimed at? Usually an artists can be categorized as a jazz, soul or blues singer, but here, Esther was trying to appeal to a number of different types of record buyer. The problem was though, if you’re a jazz fan, would you buy an album that only had a couple of jazzy tracks on it, especially when there was several disco tracks. Maybe the answer would’ve been to record an album of say jazz tracks, and appeal to fans of jazz music. After all, how many music fans have eclectic tastes that range from jazz, blues and disco? Regardless of why the album wasn’t a commercial success, You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby is still a great album, albeit one of the underrated Esther Phillips albums. Now it had been rereleased by soulmusic.com as part of a two albums on one disc series, with another disc featuring Here’s Esther, Are You Ready and Good Black Is Hard To Crack. This allows anyone who never heard these albums the first time round, to hear the majestic music of one of the most talented and versatile vocalists in the history of music, Esther Phillips. Standout Tracks: You’ve Been A Good Ole Wagon, Somewhere Down the Line, In A Soft and Subtle Way and I’ve Never Been A Woman Before.
ESTHER PHILLIPS-YOU’VE COME A LONG WAY.
GLADYS KNIGHT AND THE PIPS-ALL I NEED IS TIME.
GLADYS KNIGHT AND THE PIPS-ALL I NEED IS TIME.
Although Neither One of Us was Gladys Knight and the Pips final album released while they were signed to Motown, one further album was released after they’d signed to their new label, Buddah Records. This was All I Need Is Time, a hugely underrated and excellent album, that features some wonderful music. It was the result of a large team of songwriters, arrangers and producers collaborating with Gladys Knight and the Pips, on the nine songs on All I Need Is Time. Sadly, on its release, it somehow, failed to replicate the success of their three previous albums, 1971s If I Were Your Woman, and 1972s Standing Ovation and Neither One of Us.
All I Need Is Time was released just four months after Neither One of Us, in June 1973. It had been recorded during 1972 and 1973, and saw a number of producers work on the album. All of these producers had previously worked with Gladys Knight and The Pips on Neither One of Us. Helping produce the album were Johnny Bristol, Clay McMurray, Joe Porter and Hal Davis. While Johnny and Clay produced three tracks each, Joe produced two and Hal just one. Clay McMurray and Johnny Bristol contributed three songs for the album. The track that opened the album I’ll Be Here (When You Get Home), was written by Johnny with Wade Brown and David Jones Jr. Of the two songs written by Clay, he cowrote The Only Time You Love Me When You’re Losing Me with Pamela Sawyer and Martin Foster, while he wrote Here I Am Again with Patricia Foster. One of the most surprising choices on the album, was a cover of Sly and The Family Stone’s Thank You (Falettin Me Mice Elf Again). This choice raised eyebrows when it became know that Gladys Knight and The Pips had covered it. However, their funk drenched interpretation demonstrated the group’s versatility. The rest of the material on the album was perfect for Gladys, allowing her to use her full vocal range. With such strong material on the album, and critics giving the album a positive reception, everything looked good for the release of All I Need Is Time.
When All I Need Is Time was released in July 1973, Gladys Knight and The Pips were no longer contracted to Motown. They’d left for Buddah Records, where they’d release some stunning singles and albums. On its release, All I Need Is Time reached number seventy in the US Billboard 200 and number fourteen in the US R&B Charts. This must have been a disappointment, after their previous album Neither One of Us had reached number nine in the US Billboard 200 and number one in the US R&B Charts. Only one single was released from the album, the title track, All I Need Is Time, which reached number sixty-one in the US Billboard 100 and number twenty-eight in the US R&B Charts. A second single Here I Am Again, was scheduled for release, but cancelled. This was the penultimate Gladys Knight and The Pips single released by Motown, with Between Her Goodbye and My Hello released in 1974. It reached number fifty-seven in the US Billboard 200 and number forty-five in the US R&B Charts. Both this single and the album All I Need Is Time, marked the end of a long relationship between Gladys Knight and The Pips and Motown. However, All I Need Is Time was a fitting end to their relationship, and it’s that album I’ll now tell you about.
All I Need Is Time I’ll Be Here (When You Get Home), co-written and produced by Johnny Bristol. It’s a slow song, which sees strings, keyboards and rhythm section combine with chiming guitars before Gladys and The Pips sing subtle harmonies. This gives way to an emotive, heartfelt vocal from Gladys, while The Pips contribute tight harmonies. A bass sits at the front of the mix, while drums provide the track’s heartbeat and lush strings and rasping horns are key to Johnny Bristol’s hugely moving arrangement. However, what makes this such a great track, is Gladys’ stunning vocal which grows in power and emotion, enveloped by swathes of strings and blazing horns. All this results in a fantastic song, one of the album’s highlights and a great way to open the album.
The title track, All I Need Is Time, was the only single released from the album, and is a lovely tender song, where a thoughtful, understated arrangement from Joe Porter combines beautifully with Gladys’ gentle, but sad and emotive vocal, to get over the failure of her relationship. Against a backdrop of the saddest sounding, lush strings, piano and chiming, shimmering guitars, The Pips sing harmonies, before Gladys vocal enters. There’s a fragility in her voice, perfect for the lyrics, while strings sweep behind her, adding to the sense of loss and heartache. Her vocal grows in power, but still there’s a sense of sadness and hurt in her voice. Meanwhile, the arrangement grows from its understated sound to a powerful peak, before quickly returning to a slow, meandering and beautiful style. What helps make this such a moving, sad but quite beautiful track is Gladys’s vocal and the use of strings throughout the track. This adds to the track’s beauty and emotion, resulting in a fantastic track.
After such a moving and beautiful track, Gladys throws a curveball, changing style completely on Heavy Makes You Happy, a track originally recorded by The Staple Singers, that combines elements of soul, funk and Latin music. It opens with a combination of rhythm section, percussion and blazing horns that drive the track along, and give it a Latin tinge, with just a pinch of funk present. After Gladys and The Pips enter, swirling strings, percussion, rasping, braying horns and the rhythm section combine to accompany them, with the interplay between Gladys and The Pips, playing an important part in this catchy track. Here, Merald, William and Edward, The Pips, help Gladys transform the track into fast and furiously funky, Latin tinged track, that’s still got the important ingredient, soul. Towards the end of the track, the band demonstrate their considerable talents, mixing genres furiously, with wah-wah guitars, and a funky rhythm section sitting comfortably beside Latin influenced percussion, and later rock guitars. By the end, you can only marvel at the melting pot of styles and influences present during what’s a furiously, fast and really catchy track.
The Only Time You Love Me When You’re Losing Me sees Gladys return to what she does so well, singing another dramatic ballad, that allows her to demonstrate her wide and vocal range. A gentle combination of keyboards and percussion, gives way to lush strings and blazing horns. With a punchy and dramatic flourish, Gladys’ powerful and frustrated vocal enters, as she sings about how the only time her lover loves her, is when he thinks she’s leaving him, and he’s losing her. As the song progresses, her voice grows in power, frustration and ever despair, while The Pips sing subtle harmonies, strings add to the emotion and drums and horns add to the drama. A dramatic and emotive arrangement combines perfectly with the anger and frustration in Gladys’ vocal, to bring the lyrics to life, so much so, that you end up sympathizing and empathizing with the character in the song’s plight.
Side one of All I Need Is Time closes with Here I Am Again, written by Clay McMurray and Patricia Foster, and produced by Clay. Straight away, the lushest of strings float in, accompanying piano, rasping horns, chiming, shivering guitars and rhythm section, before a tender, thoughtful vocal from Gladys enters. She’s accompanied by The Pips, who contribute their subtle, tight harmonies, before Gladys’ vocal grows in strength and emotion. This she does against an arrangement that’s grown in drama, with swirling strings, blazing horns and punchy drums combining. Atop this arrangement sits Gladys’ hugely powerful and equally emotive vocal, which reaches a dramatic crescendo as the track closes. Of all the tracks on side one, this one demonstrates brilliantly the power and raw emotion that Gladys Knight was capable of. After such a stunning performance, on another of the album’s highlights, it also begs the question, why didn’t Motown do more to make Gladys Knight a superstar like Diana Ross?
Side two of All I Need Is Time opens with There’s A Lesson To Be Learned. When the track begins, there’s no indication of what’s about to unfold and reveal itself. A combination of rumbling bass and dramatic strings, give way to a beautiful combination of lush strings, piano and rhythm section, before The Pips sing gentle harmonies. By the time Gladys’ vocal enters, the arrangement is a combination of a lovely sweeping sound and drama. Meanwhile, Gladys uses a mixture of power and drama as she delivers the lyrics, against a backdrop of sweeping strings and piano which combine perfectly and beautifully. This contrast and combination works well, and is a pleasant, and sometime drama laden way to open side two.
The album goes up a gear on Oh! What A Love I Have Found. It opens with an acoustic guitar and keyboards combining before strings enter and then a tender and thoughtful vocal from Gladys. Against an understated arrangement she carefully sings the lyrics, with a gentleness. Slowly, the arrangement meanders along, before The Pips enter, with backing vocalists augmenting their sound. It’s then that the arrangement and vocal grow, with the rhythm section and keyboards subtly playing, while Gladys vocal grows slightly stronger, with the backing vocalists the perfect accompaniment for her tender vocal. Although quite a different track from others on the album, this much more restrained vocal and arrangement works well, showing us a very different and very beautiful side of Gladys Knight.
From one lovely song we progress smoothly to a very different sounding track, The Singer, written by Elliot Willensky. It has a much bigger, fuller and dramatic arrangement and vocal. Here, the arrangement has an understated, subtle sound as the track opens, but quickly, this disappears, with the rhythm section, grand strings and blazing horns combining to produce an almost grandiose sounding arrangement. On top of the arrangement sits a dynamic and dramatic vocal from Gladys, which builds and builds, eventually soaring high when it reaches a series of dramatic crescendos. Although both the arrangement and vocal are an impressive combination of drama, power and emotion, I don’t think the song works. Its arrangement almost reminds me of a show tune, something you’d hear in a musical, and is slightly overblown. To me, it’s the weakest song on All I Need Is Time, and lets the album down slightly.
All I Need Is Time closes with a cover of Sly and The Family Stone’s Thank You (Falettin Me Mice Elf Again). A funk drenched combination of rhythm section, chiming, reverberating guitars and blazing horns signal the entrance of Gladys’ vocal. She handles the song well, giving it her own twist, with the help of The Pips, who play an important part in the track’s success. The interplay between Gladys and The Pips, helps the songs stay true to the original version, which features Sly Stone and a number of other vocalists. During the track, Gladys name-checks a number of other Sly and The Family Stone songs, while behind her, her band demonstrate that they’re just as capable of playing the funkiest music, as they are the smoothest soul. As the songs ends after four funk laden minutes, Gladys and The Pips have given a funk classic a new twist, one that sounds fantastically funky, but soulful. What a great way to end a great album.
Although Gladys Knight and The Pips had left Motown by the time All I Need Is Time was released and it never replicated the success of their previous album Neither One of Us, it’s an album full of some great music. Apart from The Singer, which isn’t to my taste, because of the somewhat overblown arrangement, the other eight songs demonstrate what a loss to Motown Gladys Knight and The Pips were. I’ve always felt that Gladys Knight never got the attention she deserved, and undeservedly, had to remain in the shadow of Diana Ross. Even though Gladys Knight and The Pips had nine consecutive top twenty US R&B albums, including Neither One of Us which reached number one, they never seemed to get the same star treatment they truly deserved. On signing for Buddah Records Gladys Knight and The Pips they had four number one US R&B singles, three number one US R&B albums and saw four of their albums certified gold. However, that was all still to come, and whether once Motown regretted their decision to allow Gladys to leave, is open to speculation. What I do know, is that All I Need Is Time is an excellent and underrated album, one of Gladys Knight and The Pips finest Motown albums. If you’re either a fan of Gladys Knight and The Pips or soul music, this album deserves a place in your record collection. Along with Neither One of Us, All I Need Is Time was rereleased by Universal Records on one disc, with three bonus track added. This will allow you to hear two great albums from Gladys Knight and The Pips, the woman know as The Empress of Soul. Standout Tracks: I’ll Be Here (When You Get Home), All I Need Is Time, The Only Time You Love Me When You’re Losing Me and Oh! What A Love I Have Found.
GLADYS KNIGHT AND THE PIPS-ALL I NEED IS TIME.
THE JONES GIRLS-GET AS MUCH LOVE AS YOU CAN.
THE JONES GIRLS-GET AS MUCH LOVE AS YOU CAN.
Over the years, The Jones Girls have been compared favorably with such luminaries of soul music as The Emotions, The Three Degrees and The Supremes, and their backing vocals have graced albums by some of the biggest names in music, including Betty Everett, Teddy Pendergrass, Lou Rawls, Aretha Franklin and Diana Ross. The career of three sisters of Detroit, Michigan, Brenda, Valerie and Shirley Jones started back in the sixties, when they recorded for a small Detroit based Fortune label. After success eluded them at Fortune, they moved to the label formed by Holland-Dozier-Holland Hot Wax-Invictus towards the end of the sixties. Sadly, again sales of their records were slow, and this lead to The Jones Girls becoming session singers, where they’d work for some of the biggest stars in music.
After The Jones Girls spent much of their time working as backing singers, by 1973 they were signed to the Gemigo label, a subsidiary of Curtis Mayfield’s Curtom Records. Gemigo had been set up for Leroy Hutson’s work as arranger and producer and it was for Gemigo that they recorded If You Don’t Love Me No More. This single wasn’t particularly successful, but paved the way for the follow-up single Will You Be There, which proved fortuitous for The Jones Girls, albeit in a round about way. Although Will You Be There wasn’t a commercial success, Gil Askey who arranged the single, and was also working with Diana Ross.
Gil Askey recommended The Jones Girls as backing singers for Diana Ross’ forthcoming tour. This lead to The Jones Girls working with Diana Ross for two years, and gave them valuable experience and publicity. Ironically, before embarking on the tour with Diana Ross, The Jones Girls had recorded an album for Curtom, but it was never released. One of the tracks, Hey Lucinda was released as a single, but failed to do as well for The Jones Girls as it did for Betty Everett. She recorded her vocal over The Jones Girls’ backing track, and the single gave Betty a hit single. After working with Diana Ross, The Jones Girls worked with Linda Clifford on her 1978 album If My Friends Could See Me Now, which was the most successful album of Linda’s career. However, the two years they’d spent with Diana Ross, and working with a number of other artists helped The Jones Girls secure a contract with one of the biggest record labels of that time, Philadelphia International Records.
The Jones Girls recorded their first album entitled The Jones Girls for Philadelphia International Records in 1979. With Gamble and Huff contributing three songs for the album, and the Dexter Wansel and Cynthia Biggs songwriting partnership contributing two songs, it seemed that some of the most creative people at Philadelphia International were working on the album. This extended to the production of the album with Gamble and Huff and Dexter Wansel all involved. On the album was a track that would give the sisters their first million selling single, You Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else. The single reached number thirty-eight in the US Billboard 100, number five in the US R&B Charts and number twelve in the US Dance Charts. When The Jones Girls was released, it reached number fifty in the US Billboard 200 and number eight in the US R&B Charts. After a million selling single and top ten US R&B album, The Jones Girls and everyone at Philadelphia International must have been overjoyed at the success of their latest signing.
A year later in 1980, The Jones Girls released their second album At Peace With Woman, which saw many of Philadelphia International biggest names collaborate on the album. Gamble and Huff contributed three songs, Dexter Wansel and Cynthia Biggs two songs and Thom Bell and Linda Creed one song. Teddy Pendergrass, Lou Rawls, Dexter Wansel and Cynthia Biggs all collaborated on one track, Let’s Celebrate (Sittin’ On Top of the World). Like their debut album, production duties were shared around with Gamble and Huff, Dexter Wansel and Cynthia Biggs and Jack Faith all involved. The result of this all-star line-up and The Jones Girls was an album that reached number seven in the US R&B Charts and number ninety-six in the US R&B Charts. Two singles were released from the album, with Dance Turned Into A Romance reaching number twenty-two in the US R&B Charts while I Just Love the Man reached number nine in the US R&B Charts. Although the album hadn’t reached the same heights in the US Billboard 200, a top ten US R&B album and single must have pleased Brenda, Valerie and Shirley Jones, who after over ten years of trying, had seen their career finally reach the heights their talent deserved.
During 1981, The Jones Girls headed for the Sigma Sound Studios, Philadelphia, to record what would be their third album, Get As Much Love As You Can, which this article is about. As well as recording at Sigma Sound Studios, new producer, arranger and pianist McKinley Jackson recorded three tracks on the West Coast. These three tracks were ASAP (As Soon As Possible), Let’s Be Friends Then Lovers and The World Will Sing Our Song, all produced by McKinley.
Back at Sigma Sound, the other five songs were recorded for the album, including a track that would become synonymous with The Jones Girls, Nights Over Egypt. Penned by Dexter Wansel and Cynthia Biggs, Nights Over Egypt was released as the second single from the album in 1982, reaching number twenty-three in the US R&B Charts. Since then, Nights Over Egypt has become not only one of the most popular Jones Girls song, but one of the most popular songs in soul music, often featuring on radio and compilation albums. Incognito covered the song on their 1999 album No Time Like the Future and was released as a single. Later the song was remixed by Masters At Work, and became one of their classic remixes. However, regardless of cover versions, the definitive and best version of Nights Over Egypt is by The Jones Girls.
Nights Over Egypt wasn’t the only single released from the album. It was preceded by (I Found) That Man of Mine reaching number twenty in the US R&B Charts. On the album’s release, it only reached number 155 in the US Billboard 200 and number twenty-five in the US R&B Charts, which was disappointing given the standard of material on the album. After the disappointment of the lack of success of Get As Much Love As You Can, and their failure to turn The Jones Girls into the major stars their talent deserved, Gamble and Huff and The Jones Girls decided to dissolve their recording contract by mutual consent. Upon leaving Philadelphia International, they signed to Victor Records where they’d release just one album.
Two years after the released of Get As Much Love As You Can, The Jones Girls released their fourth album in 1983. Entitled On Target, the album failed to reach the heights of their previous album, reaching just number fifty-nine in the US R&B Charts. The style of music on the album was dance-floor oriented and the myriad of synths and drum machines smothered Shirley’s vocals. Although this style of music wasn’t really suited to The Jones Girls it yielded two US R&B hit singles, with On Target reaching number forty-three and 2 Win U Back reaching number forty-seven. However, after the modest sales of the album, Victor chose not to offer The Jones Girls another contract. However, two familiar faces would reenter their lives, Gamble and Huff.
1984 saw The Jones Girls released their fourth album for Philadelphia International, after an absence of three years. Sadly, Keep It Comin’ an album with some fine music on it, reached just number 201 in the US Billboard 200. After just one album, The Jones Girls left Philadelphia International, and wouldn’t release another album for eight years.
The final album The Jones Girls released was Coming Back in 1992, on the ARP label. Like their previous album, Coming Back failed to enter the charts. After this, The Jones Girls returned to doing session work, before Shirley decided to pursue a solo career. In 1986, Shirley released the top ten US R&B album Always In the Mood. On the album was Do You Get Enough Love, which was released as a single. When it was released, it reached number one in the US R&B Charts.
Although The Jones Girls only released six albums, the music they released on Philadelphia International demonstrates just how hugely talented Brenda, Valerie and Shirley Jones were. Of these six albums, my favourite is 1981s Get As Much Love As You Can, which i’ll now tell you about.
Get As Much Love As You Can opens (I Found) That Man of Mine, a Gamble and Huff penned track, which gave the sisters their biggest US R&B hit to date, number nine in the charts. It’s a mid-tempo dance track with piano, organ and rhythm section accompanying the sisters, before Shirley sings lead vocal. Their voices are sweet, while the catchy arrangement sweeps along with the organ, piano, swirling strings and rasping horns playing important parts in the arrangement. On guitar Cecil Womack, drenches the arrangement with his funky playing. As the sisters, sing tight harmonies, the punchy arrangement is punctuated by bursts of dramatic horns and organ over four minutes. This stomping arrangement, catchy and hook laden is the perfect backdrop for The Jones Girls to strut their stuff, and deliver their joyous and sometimes sassy vocals beautifully.
Like the opening track Get As Much Love As You Can is a Gamble and Huff track, written and produced by them, while Richard Rome arranges the track. It features a quite beautiful, thoughtful and heartfelt vocal from Shirley, while Brenda and Valerie contribute backing vocals, as the lushest of strings sweep, Cecil’s guitar chimes and a bass meanders gently, while flourishes of piano add to the emotion and drama. As the track progresses, Shirley demonstrates her huge talent as a vocalists, her powerful voice soaring, as she delivers a stunning lead vocal. Behind her, her sisters play their part, matching the emotion and beauty in Shirley’s voice. When Shirley’s vocal, her sisters harmonies and a beautiful arrangement from Richard Rome are combined, the result is a graceful and tender ballad, that’s one of the album’s highlights.
Probably the best known track on Get As Much Love As You Can is the seminal Nights Over Egypt. Written by Dexter Wansel and Cynthia Biggs and arranged and produced by Dexter, it’s one of the most memorable songs The Jones Girls recorded. Even over thirty years later, it retains the magical, timeless sound it had back in 1980. Opening with a mystical, meandering introduction where a combination of synths, rhythm section, harp and acoustic piano combine. The funkiest of basses plays its part before the sisters unite to sing gentle, tight harmonies. Their voices grow in strength and power, as the the arrangement peaks, before giving way to a lush, almost mystical and exotic sound, before lush strings sweep and swirl, as the vocal rejoins. Jack Faith plays flute on the track, while gentle, rasping horns escape from Dexter’s sublime arrangement. By the end of the track, you realize that you’ve been fortunate enough to hear a classic track, one where a number of hugely talented people help The Jones Girls create a track that would become synonymous with them in years to come.
Dexter Wansel and Cynthia Biggs cowrote Love Don’t Come Easy, while Dexter arranged and produced it. This was the final track on side one of the album, and like Nights Over Egypt and (I Found) That Man of Mine, is a mid tempo track. It opens with Grover Washington playing soprano saxophone, while Leon Huff plays acoustic piano and Miguel Fuentes contributes percussion. After this gentle, introduction a slightly, jazzy but heartfelt vocal from Shirley enters, as she asks her lover never to leave her, to be loyal and never say goodbye. It’s accompanied by Valerie and Brenda who contribute harmonies, while Grover drenches the arrangement with his saxophone and strings sweep in. As the song progresses, it just gets even better, and the combination of Leon’s piano and Grover’s saxophone combine beautifully with the strings. They provide the perfect backdrop for Shirley’s gorgeous vocal, which brings out the best in the song’s lyrics, especially when sung against such a lovely arrangement.
SIde two of Love Don’t Come Easy opens ASAP (As Soon As Possible), a track Shirley cowrote with McKinley Jackson, and one of the tracks recorded on the West Coast. It’s another love song, with a lonely Shirley asking her estranged partner to come home as soon as possible, as they can’t live apart. She sings the lyrics against a quicker, funk laden arrangement, where the rhythm section and blazing horns combine to drive the song in the direction marked funk. When the vocal enters, it’s sung in a near falsetto style, with the other sisters singing harmonies, during what becomes fast, funky dance track. The smooth, flowing and funky arrangement is very different from the previous tracks in style and sound. It features a driving rhythm section, chiming guitars, braying horns and a myriad of keyboards and synths that turn it into a hugely catchy, almost infectious track, with hooks aplenty.
After a very different sounding, but hugely catchy track, the style changes on a beautiful thoughtful ballad Let’s Be Friends (Then Lovers). It’s a much slower track, with a lovely vocal from a cautious Shirley, who sings about becoming friends first, and getting to know each other, before becoming lovers. Valerie and Brenda contribute gentle, backing vocals while the arrangement features slow, lush strings, piano and guitars, that are key to Gene Page’s arrangement. It has a slow, wistful sound, that builds and builds, reaching a dramatic, yet beautiful crescendo after five and a half magical minutes.
The World Will Sing Our Song is the last in a trio of consecutive McKinley Jackson produced tracks, with Gene Page again arranging the track. This is by far, the fastest track on the album, but you wouldn’t realize when the track begins. It has a gentle almost Caribbean influence as the track opens with the rhythm section and guitars combining. When the vocal enters, the sisters combine to sing with a tender, sweet style, while swirling strings and percussion join the arrangement. It’s a gentle, lilting and pleasant track, made all the better by the inclusion of strings that accompany the vocals. Their inclusion combines well with the vocal and gives the track a lovely, lush sound that’s joyous and uplifting.
Love Don’t Come Easy closes with the third Gamble and Huff penned track You’re Breaking My Heart, a track they also produced, with Richard Rome arranging it. It has a sweeping arrangement, with the lushest of strings accompanying Leon Huff on piano, while Cecil Womack’s guitar chimes and the rhythm section provide the song’s gentle heartbeat. Atop the arrangement sits Shirley’s heartfelt, sad vocal as she pleads with her partner not to break her heart. Adding to the drama, are Brenda and Valerie’s harmonies and the drums, while strings, piano and guitar add to the emotion and heartbreak. This results in one of the saddest and emotive songs on the album, thanks to Shirley’s vocal and the interplay between her sisters. Add to that Richard Rome’s sweeping and dramatic arrangement, and it’s the perfect way to end what has been a great album from three hugely talented sisters from Detroit, The Jones Girls.
I’ve long been a fan of The Jones Girls music, and out of the six albums they released, Love Don’t Come Easy is my favorite. It’s an album with a wide range of different styles of music, everything from heartbreaking ballads like You’re Breaking My Heart and Get As Much Love As You Can, to the seminal, almost mystical Nights Over Egypt and the infectiously funky, dance-floor friendly ASAP (As Soon As Possible). Add to this the Gamble and Huff penned US R&B hit single (I Found) That Man of Mine, and you begin to realize that this is an album long on quality and short on filler. There are neither any bad tracks or filler here, just eight great tracks from three hugely talented sisters from Detroit, Michigan, Brenda, Valerie and Shirley Jones, who together were The Jones Girls. With the help of Gamble and Huff, Dexter Wansel and Mckinley Jackson, they released a great album in Love Don’t Come Easy, which sadly, wasn’t the commercial success it deserved to be. With so many great songs on the album, it deserved to do so much better than number 155 in the US Billboard 200 and number twenty-five in the US R&B Charts. Sadly, as regular readers of this blog will know, great music doesn’t always equate to commercial success. Although over thirty years old, Get As Much As You Can still sounds great, with some of the songs on the album having a timeless quality. On the album, Shirley Jones demonstrates just how talented a vocalist she is, handling the slow ballads as comfortably as the quicker dance tracks. With the help of Brenda and Valerie’s harmonies, the three sisters produced music that rivalled groups like The Emotions, Three Degrees and The Supremes. That Jones Girls never found the fame and fortune of these groups is almost unjust. Nowadays, groups with only a modicum of the talent that The Jones Girls had, sell millions of records, and that seems equally unfair. However, unlike these groups, The Jones Girls’ their legacy is some wonderful music which is both brilliant and timeless, and cherished by their many fans worldwide. If you’ve never heard Love Don’t Come Easy, you can now buy it as part of a two album set released on one disc by Edsel. As well as Love Don’t Come Easy, you also get Keep It Comin’, The Jones Girls 1984 album on Philadelphia International. This allows you Valerie, Brenda and Shirley Jones, who were The Jones Girls, at their very best. Standout Tracks: (I Found) That Man of Mine, Get As Much Love As You Can, Nights Over Egypt and You’re Breaking My Heart.
THE JONES GIRLS-GET AS MUCH LOVE AS YOU CAN.
MELBA MOORE-MELBA.
MELBA MOORE-MELBA.
In a recent article on Deniece William’s album My Melody, I explained how sometime, I bought an album because of who’d either produced or played on an album. With Deniece William’s album My Melody, Thom Bell had produced the album, and I’ve always been a fan of Thom’s work on the many Philly Sound albums he produced during the seventies. Along with Gamble and Huff, Thom Bell produced some of the most memorable Philly Soul albums ever, working with among others, The Delfonics and The Stylistics.
Another important partnership had been formed back in the seventies in Philadelphia, Gene McFadden and John Whitehead, one of the most prolific songwriting and production partnerships on the Philadelphia International label. Apart from arranging and production, Gene and John were successful recording artists, best known for the seminal hit single Ain’t No Stopping Us Now. This was but one of many great songs the duo recorded during the seventies, when the Philly Sound was at its most popular. During that time, they worked with the biggest names on the Philadelphia International label including The O’Jays, Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, Teddy Pendergrass, The Three Degrees and MFSB. However, it’s not just Philadelphia International acts that McFadden and Whitehead worked with, with roll call of recording artists reading like a who’s who of soul music including, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, James Brown, Gloria Gaynor and The Jackson 5. One other artist they worked with was Melba Moore, on her first album for Epic Records Melba, released in 1978.
By the time Melba Moore signed for Epic Records and met with McFadden and Whitehead, she had released seven previous albums, none of which had reached higher than number 145 in the US Billboard 200 or number eighteen in the US R&B Charts. Melba had some success with singles, with 1972s This Is It reaching number two in the US Dance Charts and Make Me Believe In You reaching number six in the US Dance Charts. Now it seemed that Melba’s career needed a boost.
Melba’s career had started well, when her 1970 debut album on Mercury Records I Got Love, was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1971, for best new artist. Sadly, the album wasn’t a commercial success, failing to chart. Her second studio album 1971s Look What Your Doing To the Man fared better, reaching number 157 in the US Billboard 200 and number forty-three in the US R&B Charts. The final album Melba released for Mercury Records was Melba Moore Live! released in 1972. Like her debut album, it too, failed to chart. After leaving Mercury Records, Melba signed to Buddah Records where she’d release four albums.
The first of the four albums for Buddah Records was the highly regarded Peach Melba, released in June 1975. It reached number 176 in the US Billboard 200 and number forty-nine in the US R&B Charts and featured the minor hit I Am His Lady, which reached number eighty-two in the US R&B Charts.
This Is It was Melba’s second album for Buddah, released in April 1976, reaching number 145 in the US Billboard 200 and number thirty-two in the US R&B Charts. On the album was the Van McCoy penned track This Is it, which gave Melba her biggest hit single, reaching number eighteen in the US R&B Charts and ninety-one in the US Billboard 100.
Melba ’76 was released in December 1976 and reached number 177 in the US Billboard 200 and number thirty in the US R&B Charts.
The final album Melba released on Buddah was A Portrait of Melba, produced by McFadden and Whitehead. It was released in November 1977, but like her final album for Mercury, this album failed to chart. After four albums, Melba decided to move labels, to Epic Records, but not before recording one of her best known hit records Standing Right Here with McFadden and Whitehead. This single reached number sixty-two in the US R&B Charts and number fifty-three in the US Dance Charts. Since then, Standing Right Here is regarded as a disco classic, and still fills dance-floors even today. When Melba left Buddah, she she was accompanied by McFadden and Whitehead, who’d produce her next album.
Having signed with Epic, McFadden and Whitehead headed to familiar territory with Melba, the Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia, where so many great Philadelphia International albums had been recorded. In total, eight tracks were recorded, including You Stepped Into My Life, which would give Melba the biggest hit single of her career. When You Stepped Into My Life was released as a single, it reached number forty-seven in the US Billboard 100, number seventeen in the US R&B Charts and number five in the US Dance Charts. Not only was the song a hit single, but it was also a staple on Larry Levan’s Paradise Garage playlist. Like another four tracks on the album, it had been co-written by McFadden and Whitehead.
With a variety of writing partners, McFadden and Whitehead contributed a total of five songs to the album. Melba Moore wrote one of the tracks on Melba Together Forever. On the album, were two cover versions. One of them was a cover of The Bee Gees song You Stepped Into My Life, from their 1975b album Main Course. There were other cover versions on the album. Two of these were tracks There’s No Other Like You and It’s Hard Not To Like You which McFadden and Whitehead had recorded with Archie Bell and The Drells on their 1977 album Hard Not To Like.
Dexter Wansel who like McFadden and Whitehead, played an important role in the success of Philadelphia International Records wrote one of the tracks on Melba, Where Did You Ever Go. He wasn’t the last person from Philadelphia International to collaborate on the album. Barbara Ingram who sung backing vocals on many Philadelphia International record, was one of a trio of female backing vocalists, that also included Carla Benson and Yvette Benton. Also singing backing vocals were another Philadelphia International group, The Futures. With such a proliferation of talent working on the album, everyone hoped that this would prove to be the album that transformed Melba Moore’s career.
When Melba was released in 1978, it gave Melba her highest chart placing in the US Billboard 200, reaching number 114. On the US R&B Charts, the album reached number thirty-five. Although the album wasn’t a huge commercial success, it was well received by critics. Of the two singles released from the album You Stepped Into My Life was the most successful, reaching number forty-seven in the US Billboard 100, number seventeen in the US R&B Charts and number five in the US Dance Charts. The second single Pick Me Up and Dance only reached number eighty-five in the US R&B Charts and number twenty-two in the US Dance Charts. Overall, Melba’s first album for her new label had been a relative success. Since then the album is considered one of Melba’s best albums, which I’ll now tell you about.
Melba opens with You Stepped Into My Life which opens with a killer bass line, fast and funky, with the drums and percussion accompanying it, before guitars enter. It’s only then that the track starts to unfold, with strings joining the mix, sweeping and swirling, followed by rasping horns. By now, it’s an arrangement that’s made in Philadelphia, perfect for Melba’s joyous, sweet vocal. It’s enveloped by swathes of swirling, strings, rasping horns and chiming guitars and a crack rhythm section that help drive the dramatically and joyfully track along. During the track there are a number of breakdowns where the rhythm section get the chance to shine, showcasing their considerable talents with a series of funk drenched masterclasses. After nearly eighty hook-laden and catchy minutes, the transformation of Melba to disco diva is complete on this masterful mid-tempo track. However, credit must go to producers McFadden and Whitehead, and co-producer Jerry Cohen, as well as John Luongo who also helped produce this track. Without their talents, this track wouldn’t sound half as good.
After such a strong opening track, Melba covers a song written by the McFadden and Whitehead co-wrote with Victor Castarphen, There’s No Other Like You. This is one of two tracks previously recorded by Archie Bell and The Drells. The track has a big, dramatic introduction with chiming guitars, rhythm section, braying horns and lush strings combining before Melba’s emotive and beautiful vocal enters. She’s accompanied by backing vocalists, who contribute equally beautiful and subtle backing vocals. As the song slowly progresses, lush strings, chiming guitars and rasping horns add to the emotion and beauty of the song, as Melba sings about how nobody can make her feel like her new lover makes her feel. Later in the track, flourishes of piano add to the stunning sounding arrangement, adding to the Philly Sound influence of the track. Combined with a heartfelt and emotive vocal from Melba, this is a beautiful track, one that benefits from a stunning arrangement from McFadden and Whitehead.
The second song from Archie Bell and The Drells 1977 album Hard Not To Like, covered by Melba is It’s Hard Not To Like You. Like the previous track, it was co-written by McFadden and Whitehead, but with Frankie Smith and Harold Preston. Straight away, a funky combination of guitars and the rhythm section are joined by blazing horns and swirling strings, before Melba’s powerful, sassy vocal enters. Quickly, the arrangement speeds up, horns, rhythm section and guitars punctuating the sound, giving it a catchy, hooky sound, that swings along. Backing vocalists sweetly and soulfully accompany and assist Melba, as she uses her full vocal range on the track, as the strings swirl and sweep above. After just under four swinging minutes, where Melba and her band majestically combine soul, jazz and disco, the song is over, leaving a smile on your face at another hook laden, catchy track that sounds just fantastic.
After songs from the Gibb Brothers and McFadden and Whitehead, Melba sings the one song she wrote on the album Together Forever, which closes side one of Melba. A combination of rhythm section, guitars and lush, sweeping strings precede Melba’s slow, dramatic and thoughtful vocal. Behind her, a piano enters, while what sounds like a choir of backing vocalists accompany Melba. This is a big, dramatic ballad, with Melba using a combination of drama and power, as she swears to be together forever with her lover. Her delivery is impressive, displaying a hugely powerful voice that soars high above the arrangement, with her emphasising notes, holding them for impact and effect. As the songs ends in a dramatic crescendo with Melba’s voice soaring and her holding the note for what seems an age, you can’t help but be impressed by her talent and versatility as a vocalist, and songwriter.
Side two of Melba opens with the best known track on the album Pick Me Up, I’ll Dance co-written by McFadden and Whitehead with Ronald Rose. It’s a classic disco track, with everything you could want in this type of track. It has a fantastic arrangement from McFadden and Whitehead, the tempo is perfect, 127 disco heaven the speed of all great disco tracks. With a combination of pulsating drumbeats, chiming guitars and swirling disco strings, accompanied by bursts of rasping horns, Melba gives a joyous delivery of the lyrics. She seems to have taken to her role as disco diva beautifully, delivering the vocal with a mixture joy, emotion and just a little drama. Meanwhile behind her guitars, horns and strings are key to this great sounding track, as are backing vocalists who accompany Melba, their voices the perfect accompaniment. Later, as if adding just the finishing touch, a piano cuts in, joining the disco strings and blazing horns to complete what is an all-time disco classic from Melba, one that’s timeless sound, and sounds just as good today as in 1978.
It’s a hard act to follow such an outstanding track, so Melba decides to change the style on Happy, another of the McFadden and Whitehead penned tracks. This time, they collaborated with co-producer Jerry Cohen, on what’s a lovely, uplifting and quite joyful sounding track. When it opens there’s no indication of what’s to come. However, quickly, the keyboards and rhythm section give way to swirling strings, and then Melba’s beautiful, joyous vocal. Behind her a punchy rhythm section, slow lush strings and shimmering guitars are augmented by subtle backing vocalists, while Melba’s vocal combines drama and joy, as she promises to make her lover happy. During a breakdown, horns gently rasp, backing vocalists and swirling strings combine beautifully. Once all this is combined with Melba’s vocal the result is a gorgeous track, the latest in a long of similar tracks.
The tempo increases on I Promise To Love You another McFadden, Whitehead and Cohen penned track. Although it doesn’t quite reach 127 disco heaven, it’s not far away. Here the track has a similar warm, beautiful, joyous sound to its predecessor, thanks to another classy vocal from Melba. She’s accompanied by another arrangement that has it’s roots in Philadelphia, with swirling, sweeping disco strings, rasping horns and a driving rhythm section. As she sings, guitars chime and sweet sounding, soulful backing vocalists accompany her, as waves of the dramatic arrangement unfolds. Again, it’s another track that’s perfect for the dance-floor, and one that thirty-three years later still sounds just as good.
Melba closes with the Dexter Wansel penned ballad, Where Did You Ever Go. It’s quite different from the rest of the album, but is the perfect song to close the album. It has a big, dramatic arrangement with piano, slow sad strings, keyboards and the rhythm section combining before a thoughtful, sad vocal from Melba enters. This is the slowest song on the album, with the arrangement growing and becoming dramatic, strings and piano playing an important role in the arrangement. Here she Melba can again,demonstrate the power in her vocal, which is transformed into raw emotion. She sings the song thoughtfully and emotively, with a lovely arrangement from McFadden and Whitehead accompanying her, making this a perfect way to end what has been an outstanding album.
Having spent some time listening to Melba Moore’s eighth album Melba, it seems my decision to buy the album because of McFadden and Whitehead producing the album was a good decision. Before this, I’d never really heard a whole Melba Moore album, so didn’t quite know what to expect. I’d previously heard a number of her disco hits, but that was all. However, I knew that anything McFadden and Whitehead produced was bound to be good quality. I wasn’t wrong, and Melba is an outstanding album, with each of the eight tracks of the highest quality. From ballads, jazz, soul and disco, there’s everything here. Not only does the album feature a variety of material and styles, but it allows Melba to demonstrate her versatility and talent as a vocalist. She was blessed with a powerful and wide vocal range, that was perfect when delivering several of the songs on the album. What really helped make this album so good, was three things. Each of the eight songs were good quality, written by talented songwriters. WIth writers like McFadden and Whitehead, Victor Castarphen, Jerry Cohen, Dexter Wansel and the brothers Gibb, the standard of music was of the the highest standard. These songs were played by a crack team of hugely talented musicians, with some equally talented backing vocalists accompanying Melba. Finally, with McFadden and Whitehead producing the album with Jerry Cohen, you’d some of the most experienced and talented producers working on the album. Add to this John Luongo who helped with additional production on You Stepped Into My Life and Pick Me Up, I’ll Dance and the stage was set for an album that should’ve transformed Melba Moore into a bigger star. Sadly, that didn’t happen, and the album only reached number 114 on the US Billboard 200 and number thirty-five in the US R&B Charts. However, since then, the album is seen as one of Melba Moore’s finest albums. Recently, Melba has been remastered and rereleased by BBR Records. The sound quality is excellent and the album features three bonus tracks, and extensive sleeve notes where Melba Moore is interviewed. This is a welcome return for what is an outstanding album Melba, from Melba Moore, one of the original disco divas. Standout Tracks: You Stepped Into My Life, There’s No Other Like You, It’s Hard Not To Like You and Pick Me Up, I’ll Dance.
MELBA MOORE-MELBA.
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