Archive for the ‘The Gap Band’ Category
Soul Masters: BBR Reissues Edwin Starr, Gap Band, Yarbrough and Peoples, Boys Town Gang
For its latest batch of reissues, Big Break Records travels back in time to the days when The Sound of Young America ruled the airwaves with two vintage titles from the late, great Edwin Starr, and returns to the catalogues of two more label favorites – The Gap Band and Yarbrough and Peoples!
Ultimately, Edwin Starr (1942-2003) will forever be best-known for his incendiary 1970 recording of Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong’s “War,” a scorching protest song that tapped into the growing unrest of the American public in the Vietnam era. Starr’s intense, no-holds-barred delivery transformed a Temptations album track into one of the most indelible recordings of all time. “War” went all the way to the top of the pop chart in the U.S. and earned its vocalist a Grammy nomination, and spawned cover versions by everybody from Frankie Goes to Hollywood to Bruce Springsteen. Starr was a late comer to the Motown family, joining the label roster in 1968 when Berry Gordy purchased local rival Ric-Tic Records. Big Break has lavishly expanded his first album at Motown, Soul Master, along with the 1971 record featuring “War,” Involved.
Soul Master contained both tracks recycled from Ric-Tic and more recent songs cut at Motown. From the Ric-Tic catalogue, the album boasted the R&B hits “Agent Double-O Soul” and “Stop Her On Sight (S.O.S.).” Unusually for Motown at the time, Soul Master also included numerous songs written or co-written by Starr, including “Oh How Happy,” first recorded by The Shades of Blue and later covered by The Jackson 5. Other recognizable Motown songwriters represented on Soul Master include Smokey Robinson, Henry Cosby, James Dean and William Weatherspoon, and Nick Ashford and Valarie Simpson. BBR has added a whopping 17 (!) bonus tracks to the original 12-track album, primarily single releases.
1971’s Involved was Starr’s fifth album. By the time of its release, Motown – like the world – was a very different place. 1971 was the year of Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, which was released just weeks before Involved. While Involved lacks the personal vision of that classic, it also very much reflects its time and place with heightened social consciousness. “War” is joined on the LP by another Whitfield/Strong composition, “Stop the War Now,” and an epic revival of their psychedelic soul masterworks for The Temptations, “Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today)” and “Cloud Nine.” Sly Stone’s equally fiery call to action “Stand!” was also sharply current, but Involved also found room for less urgent material like George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord,” and a classic Motown throwback with Smokey Robinson’s 1960 Miracles song “Way Over There.” One more Whitfield/Strong song on the album, “Funky Music (Sho’ Nuff Turns Me On)” could have been Starr’s mantra. BBR’s reissue, remastered like Soul Master by Kevin Reeves, packs in 13 bonus tracks. Both titles have new liner notes from Justin Cober-Lake.
With its new reissues of Gap Band IV and Gap Band V: Jammin’, BBR boasts five titles from The Gap Band in its label discography. Brothers Charlie, Ronnie and Robert Wilson had quite a run. In 1967, the Oklahoma boys formed the Greenwood, Archer and Pine Street Band, which in 1973 morphed into The Gap Band. Under that moniker the brothers Wilson remained together until 2010. Following a short and ultimately disappointing time at Leon Russell’s Shelter Records, the band found initial success on Mercury before transferring to Lonnie Simmons’ Total Experience label with the release of 1982’s Gap Band IV. The funk outfit was revitalized on IV, with three of the album’s eight songs scoring mightily on the U.S. R&B chart. “Early in the Morning” and “Outstanding” both reached pole position, while “You Dropped a Bomb on Me” did almost as well with its No. 2 berth. Like Mercury swansong Gap Band III, the album achieved platinum sales. It peaked at No. 1 on the R&B album chart and went Top 20 Pop.
After the jump, more on The Gap Band plus Yarbrough and Peoples, and The Boys Town Gang! Read the rest of this entry »
BBR Goes For The Total Experience with Gap Band, Billy Paul Reissues
Today we’re taking a look at two recent reissues from Big Break Records. Both Billy Paul’s Lately and Gap Band VII were originally released by Total Experience Records, and both were the production work of Jonah Ellis. Big Break has expanded and remastered both albums.
Billy Paul, Lately (Total Experience, 1985 – reissued Big Break CDBBR 0224, 2013)
Could anyone among us have an inkling or a clue, what magic feats of wizardry and voodoo you can do? And who would ever guess what powers you possess?
Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff of Philadelphia International Records had an inkling of the magic Billy Paul could do when they gifted the veteran jazz singer with “Me and Mrs. Jones,” a smoldering ode to a lady with whom the vocalist “has a thing goin’ on.” Those lyrics above are from the rarely-performed verse of Alan Jay Lerner and Burton Lane’s “On a Clear Day (You Can See Forever),” a song first sung on record – sans verse – by Paul on his 1968 Gamble Records release Feelin’ Good at the Cadillac Club. Billy Paul was already nearing his mid-thirties when he made that long-playing debut. He was over 50 when he revisited “On a Clear Day” as the most atypical track on a rather atypical album, 1985’s Lately. The first of only two albums recorded by the singer in the 1980s, the Total Experience release has just been lovingly reissued by Cherry Red’s Big Break imprint (CDBBR 0224). Paul was joined in Hollywood by Gerry Brown (drums), Nathan East (bass), Oliver Scott (keyboards/vocals/electronic drums), David Tillman and Juan Luis Cabaza (keyboards), and album producer/multi-instrumentalist Jonah Ellis. Marva King, Maxine and Julia Waters and Carmen Twillie all provided background vocals.
The album’s closing track, “On a Clear Day” was just one of the songs on the album that recalled the earlier salad days of Billy Paul’s recording career. Whether in 1968 or 1985, Paul found soulful liberties to take with Burton Lane’s elegant melody, and even on the re-recording, he made room for a piano solo that recalled his jazz roots. Though they’re adventurous in the context of re-presenting a theatrical standard, the burbling synthesizers and programmed drum beats obscure both the song and Paul’s vocal, and alas, that’s too frequently the case on Lately. Yet BBR’s exemplary reissue, produced by Wayne Dickson, remastered by Nick Robbins, and generously annotated by J. Matthew Cobb, allows us to view the album as a well-intentioned experiment in a stellar career.
Lonnie Simmons’ Total Experience label had found great success with The Gap Band and Yarbrough and Peoples, but the company was already in the midst of the struggles that would eventually see its demise when Lately was slotted for release. Producer and chief songwriter Jonah Ellis (known for his work with both of those Total Experience acts) grafted an aggressively “contemporary” sound onto Paul’s smooth vocals, but by and the large, the new material wasn’t up to the standard set by the singer. Just one other standard made it onto the album, Harry Warren and Al Dubin’s “I Only Have Eyes for You.” Ellis adhered closely to the blueprint of The Flamingos’ classic doo-wop version of the 1934 song, but gave it a modernized makeover. Paul’s alluring, sensual vocal exudes confidence as he adds plenty of impassioned ad-libs.
After the jump: plenty more on Billy Paul’s Lately! Plus: mind the Gap – the Gap Band, that is! Read the rest of this entry »
Big Break Watch: Shalamar, Isley Brothers Lead Recent Reissue Slate
A host of ’80s R&B titles are out in the U.K. this week from Cherry Red’s Big Break offshoot. They include a double-disc expansion of one of Shalamar’s best-loved albums, plus expanded editions of a few LPs by the likes of The Isley Brothers, The Gap Band and Billy Paul.
While 1982 was the year of Michael Jackson’s Thriller, U.K. R&B enthusiasts also count another album as influential to the genre that year: Shalamar’s Friends. After a string of hits around the world for the trio comprised of Jody Watley, Jeffrey Daniel and Howard Hewitt, Friends was their most successful album in England, owing to a seminal performance on Top of the Pops where Daniel demonstrated popping, locking and even (a year before Jackson did it on American television) moonwalking. “A Night to Remember,” “There It Is” and “I Can Make You Feel Good” were all Top 10 hits, with the title track peaking at No. 12. Daniel and Watley left the group after 1983’s The Look (with Watley enjoying worldwide solo success in the late ’80s, and Daniel working with Jackson in choreographing several music videos for singles from Bad in 1987 and 1988), making this one of the last and most iconic examples of the “classic” lineup of this revered trio.
The deluxe Friends includes three “outtakes” from the Friends era that were released on 1981’s Go for It album (a quickly-released LP from the band’s label, Solar Records’, transition from major-label distributors), as well as a bonus disc of single edits and remixes. A deluxe liner notes booklet features a new interview with Watley, adding insight into the era of Shalamar as U.K. hitmakers.
And what else is being released by BBR today? Hit the jump to find out!
Release Round-Up: Week of August 2
Arcade Fire, Scenes from the Suburbs (Merge)
Last year’s Grammy winner for Album of the Year is newly expanded with two unreleased tracks and a bonus DVD documentary. (Official site)
Various Artists, Mightier Than the Sword: The Ronnie James Dio Story (Sanctuary U.K.)
This new double-disc set, in honor of the late, beloved metal singer, is the first to compile just about every band Dio ever sang for – Elf, Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio and Heaven and Hell. (Official site)
Archers of Loaf, Icky Mettle: Deluxe Edition (Merge)
The North Carolina ’90s college-rock stalwart’s debut album is newly remastered and expanded with a bonus disc of rare single and EP material. (Official site)
The Gap Band, The Gap Band 8: Expanded Edition / The Isley Brothers, Between the Sheets: Expanded Edition / Johnny Nash, I Can See Clearly Now: Expanded Edition / The Joneses, The Joneses: Expanded Edition / Keith Barrow, Keith Barrow: Expanded Edition / The Nite-Liters, A-Nal-Y-Sis: Expanded Edition (Big Break)
More expanded reissues from Cherry Red’s main soul provider! (Big Break)
Kippington Lodge, Shy Boy: The Complete Recordings 1967-1969 (RPM)
An early ’60s pop turn from a band that included Nick Lowe and Brinsley Schwarz among its ranks. This set includes ten single A- and B-sides with some rare and unreleased material. (RPM)
Big Break’s Full Summer Slate Includes Isleys, Pointers, Prince Partners
The fine folks at Big Break Records have got another large batch of new titles for release in the U.K. on July 25, and we figured now was a good time to share not only the track lists and details with you, but look ahead at some of the huge titles they’re prepping for next month.
There are a few really great, underrated titles from some big-name acts in next week’s batch, including expansions of The Isley Brothers’ Between the Sheets (1983) and I Can See Clearly Now (1972) by Johnny Nash. But there are some deeper titles for cratediggers, all augmented with bonus tracks. Particularly, two discs from the Total Experience Records catalogue (Prime Time’s Flying High (1984) and The Gap Band’s Gap Band 8 (1986)) and some other dance/soul classics from around the Sony Music catalogue (The Nite-Liters, Keith Barrow, The Joneses).
But August is just as exciting a month for the label, featuring some Prince-ly project and the what may be Big Break’s most ambitious release yet. Read all about it after the jump!
Let’s Hear It for the Big Break May Slate
Not long after the Cherry Red labels update their calendars for April, their ever-busy Big Break Records imprint preps a set of R&B reissues for May. And there are quite a few hits contained therein.
No less than six new expansions are on the label’s schedule in the next month, most of them from the Sony catalogue. The biggest hits by far would be Back Stabbers, the sophomore release by The O’Jays and the album that spun off the immortal chart-topping hit “Love Train,” and Deniece Williams’ Let’s Hear It for the Boy, the title track of which featured as one of many hits in the 1984 film Footloose. Each of those albums will be expanded with single edits and remixes. There are two other dance-heavy titles on the roster, too. The Gap Band’s Gap Band VI had the Top 10 R&B hits “Beep a Freak” and “I Found My Baby,” while the relatively obscure Linx had a raft of U.K. hits with debut album Intuition, newly expanded with six bonus remixes.
If full-on dance/funk isn’t your thing, there are the chilled-out sounds of Jon Lucien, the singer from the Virgin Islands whose Song for My Lady album is due for expansion from the label (his second, after an expansion of hit album Rashida for the label last year), or Linda Lewis, the British singer-songwriter whose Woman Overboard, featuring production by Allen Toussaint and Cat Stevens, will be expanded with non-LP material (again, following an expansion of her first album for Arista from Big Break last year).
The O’Jays, Lucien, Lewis and Linx all drop in the U.K. on May 23, with Williams and The Gap Band following a week later on May 30. And of course, each of them come to the U.S. through Amazon a week after their British release dates (May 31 and June 7, respectively). Order them from the label here and hit the jump for the track lists!
The O’Jays, Back Stabbers: Expanded Edition (Big Break Records CDBBR0051, 2011)
- When the World’s at Peace
- Back Stabbers
- Who Am I
- (They Call Me) Mr. Lucky
- Time to Get Down
- 992 Arguments
- Listen to the Clock on the Wall
- Shiftless, Shady, Jealous Kind of People
- Sunshine
- Love Train
- 992 Arguments (Single Version)
- Who Am I (Single Version)
- Love Train (A Tom Moulton Mix)
Tracks 1-10 from Philadelphia International Records LP KZ-31712 (U.S.)/PIR-65932 (U.K.), 1972
Track 11 from Philadelphia International Records 7″ single ZS7-3522, 1972
Track 12 from Philadelphia International Records 7″ single S PIR-2213 (U.K.), 1972
Track 13 from Philadelphia Classics promo compilation – Philadelphia International Records PZG-34940, 1977
Jon Lucien, Song for My Lady: Expanded Edition (Big Break Records CDBBR0052, 2011)
- Soul Mate
- Dindi
- You Are My Love
- Creole Lady
- Song for My Lady
- Mother Land
- Maiden Voyage
- Follow Your Heart
- Creole Lady (Single Version)
- Follow Your Heart (Alternative Version)
Tracks 1-8 from Columbia LP PC-33544, 1975
Track 9 from Columbia single 3-10232, 1975
Track 10 possibly from Love Everlasting: The Very Best of Jon Lucien (BMG 74321 66043-2 (U.K.), 1999)
Linda Lewis, Woman Overboard: Expanded Edition (Big Break Records CDBBR0053, 2011)
- You Came
- Shining
- Bonfire
- Come Back and Finish What You Started
- No. 1 Heartbreaker
- Dreamer of Dreams
- Moon and I
- Light Years Away
- My Love is Here to Stay
- My Friend the Sun
- So Many Mysteries to Find
- Flipped Over Your Love
- Never Been Done Before
- Can’t We Just Sit Down and Talk It Over
Tracks 1-11 from Arista LP SPARTY 1003 (U.K.), 1977
Track 12 from Arista single 100 (U.K.), 1977
Track 13 from Arista single 125 (U.K.), 1977
Track 14 from Arista single 170 (U.K.), 1977
Linx, Intuition: Expanded Edition (Big Break Records CDBBR0054, 2011)
- Wonder What You’re Doing Now
- I Won’t Forget
- Intuition
- There’s Love
- Rise and Shine
- Throw Away the Key
- Together We Can Shine
- Count on Me
- You’re Lying
- Don’t Get in My Way
- You’re Lying (U.K. 12″ Mix)
- Throw Away the Key (U.K. 12″ Mix)
- Together We Can Shine (U.S. Recording)
- Wonder What You’re Doing Now (U.S. Remix)
- You’re Lying (U.S. Remix)
- Throw Away the Key (U.S. Remix)
Tracks 1-10 from Chrysalis LP CHR 1332 (U.K.), 1981
Track 11 from Chrysalis 12″ A-side CHS 12 2461 (U.K.), 1980
Track 12 from Chrysalis 12″ A-side CHS 12 2519 (U.K.), 1981
Tracks 13-16 from The Last Linx – Chrysalis CHR 1409 (U.K.), 1983
Deniece Williams, Let’s Hear It for the Boy: Expanded Edition (Big Break Records CDBBR0055, 2011)
- Let’s Hear It for the Boy
- I Want You
- Picking Up the Pieces
- Black Butterfly
- Next Love
- Haunting Me
- Don’t Tell Me We Have Nothing
- Blind Dating
- Wrapped Up
- Whiter Than Snow
- Let’s Hear It for the Boy (12″ Dance Mix)
- Next Love (12″ Dance Mix)
- Black Butterfly (Single Version)
- Let’s Hear It for the Boy (Instrumental)
- Next Love (Instrumental)
Tracks 1-10 released as Columbia LP FC 39366 (U.S.)/CBS LP 26010 (U.K.), 1984
Tracks 11 and 14 from Columbia 12″ single 44-04988 (U.S.), 1984
Tracks 12 and 15 from Columbia 12″ single 44-05043 (U.S.), 1984
Track 13 from Columbia 7″ single 38-04641 (U.S.), 1984
The Gap Band, Gap Band VI: Expanded Edition (Big Break Records CDBBR0056, 2011)
- Interlude – The Sun Don’t Shine Everyday
- Video Junkie
- Weak Spot
- The Sun Don’t Shine Everyday
- I Believe
- I Found My Baby
- Beep a Freak
- Don’t You Leave Me
- Disrespect
- The Sun Don’t Shine Everyday (Vocal)
- Beep a Freak (12″ Dance Mix)
- I Found My Baby (12″ Dance Mix)
- Disrespect (12″ Dance Mix)
Tracks 1-10 from Total Experience Records LP FL-89426, 1984
Track 11 from Total Experience Records 12″ A-side TED1-2606, 1984
Track 12 from Total Experience Records 12″ A-side TED1-2613, 1985
Track 13 from Total Experience Records 12″ A-side TED1-2615, 1985