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Hey there everyone, what’s up?
Thanks for checking in with us. I missed the newsletter last week as I visited Norfolk, Virginia to attend the Johnny Marr gig. He was over here stateside with his band making a whistle-stop tour of a few cities before heading back for a more extensive European tour. It was fantastic seeing him again. A true legend and the nicest and coolest guitar slinger around. The show gave me a chance to catch up with some old friends and provided a welcome break from all the madness happening here in America currently. Shout out to local band Community Witch, who supported and got the crowd warmed up. Nice one.
Talking of good shows, I didn’t get a chance to mention the fun time we all had seeing Modem from Finland the other week. Despite a less than sold-out crowd, they gave us the full Monty. We were entertained to say the least. Kudos to their support Clear Channel from Washington D.C., who were ace. If you like ESG-like funky bass lines and Go-Go influences in your pop music, then check these guys out. We still have a couple of their records for sale. Check them out.
I’ll be listening to and watching more live music this weekend as I return to Shakori Hills for the first time since the pandemic. It’s a small bespoke festival that takes place twice a year here in North Carolina and always has good vibes. Musically, it’s billed as grassroots and dance. The lineups have everything from bluegrass to Afrobeat, and I always end up hearing something cool that I wasn’t aware of or expecting. My local DJ buddies and I will be at the Vinyl Lounge tent all weekend spinning records before, between and after bands play. It’s always a good hang and laugh. I haven’t camped in a while, so hope I can remember all my boy scout knots. LoL.
Here at the store, we have been processing several cool collections. Lots of different styles of music to cover a lot of different tastes. One I was pricing had some cool jazz records that are on the floor currently. A few heavy hitters and a lot of nice clean represses of some classics. One that I have in my personal collection is a record by Larry Young called Larry Young’s Fuel. It’s a cool, funky jazz fusion record from 1975 and recommended listening.
Larry Young left the world prematurely, aged just 37, dying from pneumonia. I’ve had that and just made sure I got my vaccine the other week. It’s no joke. The Fuel album came out in 1975 and was released on the Arista label, his new label after a one-album deal at Perception and an almost decade-long residency at Blue Note. His Unity album on Blue Note from 1966 with Joe Henderson is considered a classic and a signpost recording for progressive jazz. Not quite free jazz, but moving in that direction. The Coltrane influence is apparent. Young was an organist primarily, although he played piano too. His style was initially influenced by Jimmy Smith, but he soon developed a unique style and sound of his own. Either as a leader or sideman, his name is on some of the best records that Blue Note released during the sixties. He even turns up on a recording with Jimi Hendrix that surfaced after the guitar hero passed. His contributions to Miles Davis’s Bitches Brew cannot be underestimated, nor can his work with Tony Williams Lifetime. His jazz credentials are firmly established.
At Arista, Young cut two albums. The follow-up to Fuel came out the following year in 1976 and was titled Spaceball. I like that one too. The pair of records could be described as prog-jazz, jazz-fusion, jazz-funk or space-funk. The tags are all accurate. Obviously, Spaceball would fit the last category. Interestingly, the first album is credited to Larry Young, whereas the second artist’s name is Larry Young’s Fuel. I imagine after the first album he considered the group a project and so Spaceball was credited to the group and not him singularly. Maybe? There is a third album, called The Magician, that has a lot of the same musicians and producers, which was recorded in New York but only released in Germany in 1977. He sadly passed the following year.
On these records, Larry Young not only plays the organ and piano but incorporates Moog synths and Fender Rhodes electric keyboards into his repertoire. There are also vocals on the records, making them more soulful, and the rhythm section is definitely funky. Spaceball even has a guest appearance from guitar ace Larry Coryell, who was in the midst of making his own funky fusion records with his group Eleventh House. Another name that might be recognizable is that of Julius Brockington. He was a keyboardist also and an arranger and released a couple of cool soul-jazz records on the Today label a few years prior. Today was a sister label to Perception and part owned by producer Terry Philips, who exec-produced the Larry Young’s Fuel albums. Connect the dots.
These records might not please jazz purists, taking on as they do a very commercial approach much different to his earlier work, but to the modern ear, I think they hold up very well. A big part of that might be the vocals from Laura Logan, who has been described as giving the record a similar vibe to the ones being made by Betty Davis. The production style is much more modern sounding too, and proved tempting for hip-hop producers to sample. The drum and keyboard sounds are both tight and futuristic, yet based on a solid foundation of soul and funk from the past. It’s a shame that Larry had to leave us so early, as based on these outings he was far from over as a musician and artist.
If mid 1970s funk and fusion is your thing and you haven’t listened to Fuel and Spaceball, I would highly recommend you do. We have a copy of Fuel here at the store for anyone interested. Great thing too, not expensive. Another cool record that punches above its weight. Check it out here. Don’t forget to Turn Off The Lights.
Cheers - Dom