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"...Sax Appeal..."
Motown had its in-house band in The Funk Brothers - Muscle Shoals had The Swampers - and Alabama’s Fame Studios had THE FAME GANG. And that’s where this haul of 25 Groovy Soul nuggets comes in (a whopping 19 of which are Previously Unreleased). Here are the details...
UK released 30 March 2015 (April 2015 in the USA) – "Grits & Gravy: The Best Of The Fame Gang" by THE FAME GANG on Ace/Beat Goes Public CDBGPD 288 (Barcode 029667528825) pans out as follows (74:15 minutes):
(Except where noted all tracks are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED recordings from 1969-1970):
1. Grits And Gravy (Extended Version of a 1969 USA 7" single on Fame 1458, A)
2. Twangin' My Thang (1970 USA 7" single on Fame 1471, A)
3. Cannonball
4. Stand
5. Snortnin’ Bread
6. Groove Killer
7. Crime Don’t Pay
8. Your Good Thing (from the 1969 USA LP "Solid Gold From Muscle Shoals" on Capitol SKAO-4200)
9. Soul Feud (1969 USA 7" single on Fame 1458)
10. Shaolin'
11. Turn Your Chicken Loose (1970 USA 7" single on Fame 1471)
12. It’s Your Thing (from the 1969 USA LP "Solid Gold From Muscle Shoals" on Capitol SKAO-4200)
13. Choice Of Colors from the 1969 USA LP "Solid Gold From Muscle Shoals" on Capitol SKAO-4200)
14. Hey Joe
15. Soul Stutterin'
16. Sunrise
17. Walk Tall
18. Twenty Five Miles
19. Rang's Thang
20. Smokestack Lightning
21. Sax Appeal
22. Shufflin'
23. Canteloupe Island
24. Muscle Soul
25. Twangin' My Thang (Alternate Version)
THE FAME GANG (Mk III line-up) were:
TRAVIS WAMMACK and JUNIOR LOWE - Guitar
RONNIE EADES - Baritone and Tenor Saxophone
AARON VARNELL - Tenor and Alto Saxophone
HARVEY THOMPSON – Tenor Saxophone and Flute
HARRISON CALLOWAY - Trumpet and Trombone
CLAYTON IVEY - Piano and Organ
JESSE BOYCE - Bass
FREEMAN BROWN - Drums
MICKEY BUCKINS - Percussion
All Fame Sessions Produced by MICKEY BUCKINS and RICK HALL
The 16-page booklet has Compiler and Archive Researcher ALEC PALAO waxing lyrical about the three incarnations of The Fame Gang (Mark III is listed above) – one of three in-house groups Rick Hall had organised for his many US studio projects (The Swampers were under his dutiful eye too). Reminiscences from Guitarist Junior Lowe, Percussionist Mickey Buckins, Keyboard Player Clayton Ivey and others who were there - enliven the story with a sense of the excitement they felt on a daily basis. The band of nine stand proudly outside 603 East Avalon Avenue in Alabama (Fames Studios) in glorious colour on Page 7 looking like well-dressed hipsters.
Their lone American album from December 1969 called "Solid Gold From Muscle Shoals" on Capitol SKAO-4200 is pictured in Cashbox-Advert form on Page 12 of the booklet with a couple of their rare 45s from the same peppering the hugely affection text.
Long-standing Engineer NICK ROBBINS handled the transfers/remastering from original tapes and the Audio is the usual top-class affair from Ace – funky as a gnat's undercarriage on a charcoal grill. This CD kicks in the sound department – it really does – great Stereo grooves (mostly instrumentals).
It opens with a total Funky winner – the instrumental Saxophone and Organ of “Grits And Gravy” extended from its single playing time of 2:35 minutes to a pleasing 4:01 minutes. It’s like stumbling on the JB’s having a blast with Booker T & The MG’s – I can’t help thinking this should be reissued as a 7” for 2015. Travis Wammack penned the guitar-funky groove of “Twangin’ My Thang” which is broken up with a chorus-line of backing singers chanting the title line throughout. Next up is a wild guitar workout called “Cannonball” where someone (the liner notes suggest it’s probably Wammack) goes Eric Clapton’s Cream on his axe to a funky backdrop.
We’re then hit with one of many 1969 and 1970 cover versions - beginning with an instrumental of Sly Stone's "Stand". Once you hear the unreleased haul you can hear why they included - too good to be left languishing in a box somewhere. They tackle Curtis Mayfield's sublime "Choice Of Colors", The Isley Brothers' "It's Your Thing", Hendrix's version of the Billy Roberts tune "Hey Joe", Isaac Hayes and David Porter's "Your Good Thing", Edwin Starr's "Twenty Five Miles", Cannonball Adderley's "Walk Tall" (part-penned by Weather Report's Joe Zawinul) and even Herbie Hancock's classic piano and vibe piece "Cantaloupe Island". Of their own compositions "Shortnin' Bread" and "Sunrise" are provided by Harrison Calloway while Aaron Varnell gives us "Groove Killer" and co-writes with others in the band on "Turn My Chicken Loose" and "Sax Appeal". The Jesse Boyce and Albert Lowe written "Soul Feud" is another instrumental highlight for sure – Harmonica warbling over flick-funky guitar with Saxophones complimenting the utterly wicked groove (yummy).
It’s not all unreleased genius for sure - some of the covers work less well than you would imagine. For instance Edwin Starr's "Twenty Five Miles" is a dead-ringer for a band like this to do a Funk Cover of it – yet their take on the song is a bit weedy really and probably why it was left off the album. Far better is "It's Your Thing" where they take The Isley Brothers strut and cleverly supplement it with “Doo Doo Bop" backing vocals. Another brilliant rearrangement comes in the shape of their version of Hancock's "Canteloupe Island" – cool and funky – the double-whammy. It sounds utterly brilliant too and I'm certain will be filling up homemade CD compilations real soon.
Another winner from Ace – and if you're a fiend for a Funky Groove like me – you're gonna have to own "Grits & Gravy"...
70ts Soul, R 'n' B, Funk, Jazz Fusion
Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters
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