Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose - s/t

With the economy being what it is and gas prices being what they are, my wife and I have decided to conserve funds and stick close to home this Summer in the hope of enjoying a series of "staycations". During our most recent weekend trip to nowhere, I found myself down in my basement where I rediscovered a tub full of records, most of which I'd forgotten I had even picked up. Out of the tub I share with all of you the debut album from a family group from Dania Beach, Florida -- Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose. The original members were siblings Carter Cornelius, Eddie Cornelius, and Rose Cornelius but, after awhile, another sister, Billie Jo Cornelius, was added to the fold.

The group hit the pop charts in 1971 with the single "Treat Her Like a Lady" (US R&B Top 20, Billboard Hot 100 #3) and charted again in 1972 with "Too Late to Turn Back Now" (US R&B #5, Hot 100 #2) both written by Eddie Cornelius. Issued on the United Artists label, Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose served as the source of two additional chart hits as "Don't Ever Be Lonely" and "I'm Never Gonna Be Alone Anymore" both reached the Billboard Top 40.

Working again with producer Bob Archibald, in 1973 the group relased their second LP, Big Time Lover. While the album did have it's moments, it simply wasn't able to match the success of it's predecessor.

Their final charting single was "Since I Found My Baby" in 1974, from their third and last album -- Greatest Hits.

The group broke up in 1976 when Carter joined a black Hebrew sect in Miami and adopted the name Prince Gideon Israel. He wrote, recorded and mixed the sect's music and videos for the next 15 years. He was working on a comeback song to return to the pop field when he died of a heart attack in November 1991.

As with their other two albums, Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose's debut LP is long OOP but, as usual, you can find a reasonably priced copy floatin' around over here.

Featured cut: "Too Late To Turn Back Now"


N-joi!!

Clarence Wheeler & the Enforcers - The Love I've Been Looking For

The second fantastic album from Chicago saxophonist Clarence Wheeler and his hard-hitting Enforcers combo -- a group who were one of the brightest lights in soul jazz at the start of the 70s, really helping to keep the genre fresh and exciting! The groove here is in the tenor/organ mode first popularized in the 60s -- but the overall sound is a lot more expansive, and filled with unusual time changes, complicated rhythms, and inventive solo work that go way beyond more familiar albums of this nature on Prestige or Blue Note!

Sonny Burke is the organist in the group, and he's got a touch on the keys that's a lot like Jack McDuff at his best -- filled with great sounds and unusual notes that always keep things interesting. Added to that is trumpet from Sonny Covington, guitar from Eric Gale, and tenor from Wheeler -- all vamping and grooving in an amazing way! There's a bit of the Charles Earland sound from the same period going on here -- and like Earland, the group have a great way of keeping things slightly funky, even when mellow!

Source: Dusty Groove America

The Love I've Been Looking For is still OOP on vinyl but with patience & persistence, you can find a copy here at a decent price.

On the upside, a Japanese CD reissue is available and you can get yer paws on it right here.

Featured cut: "We've Only Just Begun"

Listen to the full album here.

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