Jeff Lorber Fusion - Galaxian

With a smooth sound bringing together elements of funk, R&B, rock, and electric jazz, keyboardist Jeff Lorber helped pioneer a genre of fusion later formatted under such names as NAC and contemporary jazz. Born in Philadelphia on November 4, 1952, he began playing the piano at the age of four, and as a teen performed with a variety of local R&B bands.

In 1972 Lorber formed his first group, The Jeff Lorber Fusion, released their self-titled debut album in 1977. Supported by a revolving cast of musicians including longtime drummer Dennis Bradford, Lorber recorded five studio albums under this moniker. These early releases showcased a funky sound influenced by other jazz fusion practitioners like Herbie Hancock, Weather Report and Return to Forever, the latter's Chick Corea appearing on several noteworthy Fusion cuts. Like his contemporaries, Lorber performed on multiple keyboard instruments including piano, Rhodes piano, and various analog synthesizers, often favoring the Minimoog and Sequential Circuits Prophet 5.

The followup Fusion album, Soft Space was issued by Inner City Records in 1978 and in 1979, Lorber & Co. moved to Arista Records and released one album per year for the next four years. 1979's Water Sign, 1980's Wizard Island, 1981's Galaxian and 1982's It's A Fact which served as Lorber's first outing after Fusion's breakup.

Lorber, who followed up Fact with 1984's In the Heat of the Night and 1985's Lift Off. Later that same year, Lorber teamed up with influential R&B production duo David Frank and Mic Murphy, otherwise known as The System, to produce his most successful effort to date, Step By Step. The synth-driven title track rose to number 31 on the R&B charts.

Jeff didn't release his first proper solo LP until 1991's Worth Waiting For, remaining both a prolific performer and producer for the rest of the decade. His subsequent albums continued to evolve in a smooth jazz direction. He recorded for Verve and Zebra in the '90s before moving over to Narada in the 2000s.

Two greatest hits compilations, The Definitive Collection and The Very Best of Jeff Lorber, were released in 2000 and 2002 respectively.

To date, he has recorded a dozen solo albums, among his most recent releases are 2005's Flipside which was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Pop Instrumental Album category and 2007's He Had A Hat recorded for Blue Note in 2007.

Lorber has done extensive production and session work for other artists including Dave Koz, Eric Benet, Herb Alpert and Laura Branigan. In addition to his recording and performing, Lorber also hosts his own show on Sirius Satellite Radio.

If you're in the market for your own copy of Galaxian you should be able to track down a vinyl copy for under $10 here. It's also available as an import CD right here.

Featured cut: "Night Love"


Dig my vinyl rip here.

Broken promises and Re-UPs

Big holiday weekend underway, so I'm probably not going to get a chance to work on a new addition for a bit. So to compensate, I give to you the official ORIGINAL SOUL4Life RE-UP!!!!

Yeah, I know I said I'd never do this but since I've been less than timely with the new posts lately, I figured I'd re-up a few links from older posts that have been in demand.

Back online for your listening pleasure are...

• The Lovelites - With Love From The Lovelites
• Cliff Nobles & Co. - The Horse
• Major Harris - Jealousy
• Johnny Bristol - Bristol's Creme

Get 'em while you can cuz after a few weeks they might be gone forever. Wondering why? I covered that answer ages ago right here.
--
N-Joi!!!!,
Slay'd.

Tavares - Hard Core Poetry

The five-brother singing group Tavares may be best known for such up-tempo hits as the million-selling single "Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel," "More Than a Woman," and "Whodunit," but they first came to national attention with the luscious ballad "Check It Out." Their crisp vocalizing and clean-cut, young-men-next-door image made them favorites on TV shows starring Johnny Carson, Mike Douglas, and Dick Clark's American Bandstand. In 1974, Tavares also had the first hit version (number one R&B) of "She's Gone" written by the then relatively unknown duo of Daryl Hall and John Oates. Hall & Oates scored a number seven pop hit with the song in 1976.

The Tavares brothers — Arthur Tavares, Ralph Vierra Tavares, Perry Lee Tavares, Antone Tavares, and Feliciano Tavares nicknamed "Pooch," "Tiny," "Chubby," and "Butch" — started the group in 1964 as Chubby and the Turnpikes in New Bedford, MA. Their grandparents taught them traditional Cape Verde folk songs, while their older brother John schooled them on doo wop singing. In 1969, the group became Tavares. They began singing in New England clubs and were signed to Capitol Records in 1973.

Their debut album, Check It Out, was issued in early 1974. The title track slow jam single went to number five R&B on Billboard's charts in summer 1973. The next single, the ballad "That's the Sound That Lonely Makes," hit number ten R&B in early 1974.

Check It Out was followed by Hard Core Poetry in the summer of 1974, helmed by songwriting/production duo Dennis Lambert & Brian Potter (the Four Tops' "Aint No Woman Like the One I Got"). It listed the soaring number ten hit "Too Late," the number one hit "She's Gone," and "Remember What I Told You to Forget," which hit number four in 1975.

Lambert & Potter produced the brother's next album, In the City, released during the summer of '75. The set yielded three singles, the number one hit "It Only Takes a Minute," a cover of the Edgar Winter Group's 1973 pop smash, "Free Ride," and "The Love I Never Had."

Tavares' next album, Sky High (spring 1976) was the group's first collaboration with producer Freddie Perren. Perren seemed to have an affinity for family singing groups, having had hits with the Jackson 5 ("I Want You Back," "ABC," "The Love You Save") as a member of the Motown arrangers/songwriters/producers collective The Corporation, and would later go to have hits with the Sylvers ("Boogie Fever"). Sky High boasted the sparkling number three R&B hit "Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel (Part 1)" from summer 1976.

Their fifth LP, Love Storm was issued in spring 1977 and included the clever number one R&B hit "Whodunit" in spring 1977. A greatest hits set, The Best of Tavares, was released in the fall of the same year.

"More Than a Woman" was specifically written for Tavares by the Bee Gees and was issued as a single from the blockbuster Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. "More Than a Woman" was also on their Future Bound LP released in spring 1978.

On 1979's Madame Butterfly LP, the group worked with Philly soul arranger/producer Bobby Martin (the Manhattans, LTD). The sweet ballad "Never Had a Love Like This Before" went to number five R&B in early 1979.

At the start of the 1980s, Tavares left Capitol Records, signing with RCA. They had one last major hit, the ballad "A Penny for Your Thoughts", from their 1982 New Directions album. Sadly, subsequent releases failed to match this success.

In 1983, after the release of their Words & Music album, brother Ralph stepped down from the group, and Tiny left in the mid 1990s, but the other three members continued to tour.

In 1994, Canadian label Unidisc released The Best of Tavares Revisited, which had re-recordings by the group of their past hits.

In 2004, Tavares released the EP Old Dawg New Tricks on the indie Eye Candy imprint. For this release, Butch Tavares handled both the production and writing duties. The CD is now available over at CDBaby.com. As of this writing, Butch and his wife Elizabeth are living somewhere in New Hampshire where he produces local talent.

Source: Tweaked from the writings of Ed Hogan, All Music Guide.

Unfortunately, Hard Core Poetry is long out of print but you can still find an original vinyl copy on the cheap right here or here.

Featured cut: "Too Late"


Listen to the full album here

Quickie: Al Hudson & Soul Partners - I'm About Lovin' You

"I'm About Lovin' You!!" I've been looking for an original copy of this 45 for ages now and I can't seem to catch one for less than a car payment. A copy just sold on the 'bay for over 2 bills!!! Somehow I just can't see myself laying out that kinda dough for a 45 unless I was makin' a livin' off my collection like Gilles Peterson or Felix Hernandez. Oh well, maybe I'll get lucky and come up on one buried in a dusty basement or backroom one of these days. Anyway, Detroit's Al Hudson & Soul Partners (later to become "Al Hudson & The Partners" then "One Way Featuring Al Husdon" and then finally "One Way") brought us this one in 1975 recording for the Atco label.

If you like what you hear and wanna try and snag an original pressing of your own you can break out that checkbook and patiently wait until the next copy pops up for sale at Gemm or ebay. On the flipside, if you don't wanna sell a kidney or you're more interested in the music than the medium on which it's delivered you can also cop the tune on an excellent Rhino UK comp called You Better Believe It!, Vol. 2 here or here for a nominal fee.

N-joi!

David T. Walker - On Love

A top session guitarist since the '70s, David T. Walker has never been an upfront soloist or flashy stylist. But his rhythm guitar and steady timekeeping skills have been heard on sessions by numerous artists. The list includes Marvin Gaye, Pharaoh Sanders, Aretha Franklin, Barry White, Levert, Bobbi Humphrey, Johnny Bristol, Leon Ware, Stephanie Mills, and the Crusaders.

Not to be known solely as a session player, throughout the years Walker has had a number of releases as a headliner as well for such labels as Revue, Zea and Ode among others. Unfortunately, David's foray into solo performance didn't fare so well and his albums never became top sellers.

For this post I've dug out one of Walker's Ode-era albums. 1976's On Love was produced by Crusaders members Joe Sample and Wilton Felder. Overall its a very mellow piece with a few uptempo numbers sprinkled throughout. Walker attempts his own spin on two Minnie Riperton covers, "Our Lives" and "Lovin' You" (both from her Perfect Angel set). The latter features rhythm guitar by Ray Parker Jr. I might be wrong but I could swear singer Leon Thomas also makes and a guest cameo on the album. His name is nowhere on the jacket so, like I said, I might be wrong but you can hear him ad libbing towards the end of "I Wish You Love."

Source: edited & tweaked from an article by Ron Wynn featured on AllMusic.com.

On Love is long out of print on vinyl but you can still get a copy without much trouble right here. In 2007 the album was reissued on CD by the Japanese Visual Arts label. You can pick one up here.

Featured cut: "Windows Of The World"


Listen to the full album here

Quickie: The Temptations - Mother Nature

Time has been kinda tight lately and I haven't had the time to pull togther my next full-length post. So in the meantime, I thought I'd throw up a track that's been on heavy rotation with me lately. From The Tempts' 1972 All Directions LP comes the single, "Mother Nature" penned by Rare Earth bandmates Nick Zesses and Dino Fekaris. Fekaris would later team up with Freddie Perren to write the anthemic "I Will Survive" for Gloria Gaynor in 1978.

You can find your own copy of "Mother Nature" as a 45 here, or here as an LP cut, or here on CD.

N-joi!

Shuggie Otis - Inspiration Information

Guitarist/singer/songwriter/producer/multi-instrumentalist Shuggie Otis may not be a household name, but his "Strawberry Letter 23" is in the record collections of millions of households.

Born Johnny Otis, Jr. on November 30, 1953, in Los Angeles, CA, Otis' formidable musical talents appeared at an early age. He began his professional career around 1965. He played a guitar solo on his bandleader, father Johnny Otis' 1969 number 29 R&B hit, "Country Girl," on Kent Records. His guitar skills were so adept that during his teen years, he would have to wear dark glasses and strategically apply black ink between his nose and mouth to appear old enough to perform in clubs with his father.

Signing with CBS Records, Otis began recording virtuoso guitar-laced R&B/West Coast blues sides. His first LP was Al Kooper Introduces Shuggie Otis on Columbia.

Shuggie's 2nd album, Here Comes Shuggie Otis was released issued on the CBS imprint, Epic Records in 1970 when he was only 14. His father, Johnny Otis, produced the LP, and co-wrote most of the album. Some of the session players include Wilton Felder, Stix Hooper, Leon Haywood, Al McKibbon, Preston Love, and many others, including a chamber string group.

On his next album, 1971's Freedom Flight, Shuggie wrote four of the album's seven tunes, did all the arrangements, and helped Father Johnny with production suggestions. The senior Otis produced the set and allowed all of Shuggie's "weird" ideas full-reign in production, and he was joined by a host of musicians from the first album, along with George Duke, Aynsley Dunbar, and the backing chorus of Clydie King, Venetta Field, and Shirley Matthews, among others. The LP included the original version of "Strawberry Letter 23," written for Otis' girlfriend, who used strawberry scented paper for her letters to him.

[Sidebar: George Johnson of the Brothers Johnson was dating one of Otis' cousins who gave Johnson a copy of Freedom Flight. Immediately, he liked "Ice Cold Daydream" and "Strawberry Letter 23." The latter song was played at his brother Louis Johnson's wedding during the wedding march. Louis suggested the song to their producer Quincy Jones for an album track. The track's complex guitar solo was played by Lee Ritenour. The Brothers Johnson's cover version sold over a million copies, peaking at number one R&B and number five pop on Billboard's charts in summer 1977. It was on their LP Right on Time, which went platinum, selling over a million copies, holding the number one R&B spot for three weeks and making it to number 13 pop in spring 1977.]

Otis' fourth LP Inspiration Information was issued in October 1974, with Otis playing all of the instruments on jazzy and Latin-tinged R&B numbers. The LP was one of the first releases to showcase the electronic rhythm box then found usually on organs. Along with the title track, the set included such noteworthy gems as "Sparkle City," "Aht Uh Mi Hed," and the lush, string-laden "Island Letter," which also appeared as the B-side of the "Inspiration Information" single.

Later on in the '90s, Otis played with his own band around northern California and toured extensively. His son, Lucky Otis, played bass with Johnny Otis' band. Shuggie Otis is featured in the book Alligator Records Presents West Coast Blues, issued in August 1998 by Milwaukee, WI, publisher Hal Leonard.

Source: Tweaked from the All Music Guide writings of Ed Hogan & Thom Jurek.

Inspiration Information (along with Shuggie's entire CBS catalog) has been reissued and is currently available on CD here. But if you're in the market for vinyl, you can either grab the official 180 gram vinyl reissue here or try your luck sifting thru represses to find an original pressing here.

Featured cut: "Inspiration Information"