This is hot! What album is it from? Can any orgers give me anymore GCS recommended listening?
[Edited 11/10/07 1:46am]

That is from "Ain't No Boubt A-Doubt It". Their 1975 album.
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[Edited 11/10/07 2:27am]

I just saw them on "Soul Train" performing "Feel The Need" and "Release Yourself". It comes on Friday nights at 3:00 a.m. (Central Time) on the local channel in my area.

You should check it out. It will be coming on at 2:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) on WGN Channel 9 today (which is now Saturday ) You should check it out and then come back on the org and discuss it on the thread that TheAudience makes each week. It's a weekly ritual for a lot of us here on the org.

I don't have these two. How are they?

vainandy said:

Great
'Mirror' has religious lyrics, which really ain't my thang, but if you can get ove r those, then it's great. 'Entrow' is the bomb

I could care less if Larry Graham is singing about worshipping a head of lettuce as long as the funk behind it is hard and strong.

The Jam is essential listening. Very progressive and set the stage for Bootsy. Really, I think all of GCS albums are good. But I favor his debut, Release Yourself and Radio Sounds Good To Me.

vainandy said:

You should definitely check out 'Entrow', it's on Mirror.
My Radio... has some cool jams too.


POW!
I gotcha!

And don't forget about their "Do U Wanta Dance" album. It has the absolute killer track at the end...."Earthquake".....with that bad ass explosion that just lingers on forever.

Blackguitaristz, we are close to the same age. During the 1980s, when Larry Graham was a solo singer with songs like "One In A Million" and "Just Be My Lady", had you ever previously heard any of Graham Central Station's prior funk? I had never heard it at the time and I remember reading in the "Right On" magazines about GCS's fans raising hell about Larry's softer solo career.

I started to buy some of their earlier albums at the time but I was busy buying current music during the 1980s. At the risk of sounding like a "fam", I never bought my first GCS album until the Prince connection in the 1990s.
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[Edited 11/10/07 14:35pm]

Man, U guys make me feel so young on these type of threads. I don't know about any of this stuff...except 4 "The Jam" & "Hair". Yea yea I know....its time 4 me 2 hand in my FuNk card.

My fave is Tis My Kinda Music, amongst others.

They made so much good music back in the day.

I've seen your picture in your profile and you've definately got style. I've got several derbies and hats like that myself. Your whole outfit just reaks of style and coolness. Don't turn in your funk card just yet because that's what we need these days.

Graham Central Station - Mirror

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Probably my favorite GCS album - and like some have mentioned, has some serious religious overtones here and there. But for me, it just sort of made the album even deeper.

But if you liked "The Jam" you will definitely dig "Entrow" which has a similar structure; funky jam, each group member grabs a solo, culminating with Larry blowing the doors off with his Monster Bass, playing it like it were a lead guitar.

When I saw GCS perform at Tramps in NYC a few years back, they kicked the show off with this cut, starting from the street, they marched in the back doors of the club, and all the way up to the stage, playing that "marching band" drum intro that the song leads off with. That was so hot.

But I have a few other favs from that album as well, like: "Love (Covers a Multitude of Sin)", which is sort of a ballad, with love as it relates in a spiritual sense. Larry's deep, velvety, rich vocal tones, really make this song (IMHO). And "Forever" rivals any Bootsy slow jam, complete with spaced out synth lines, guitar, and well arranged vocals. Very dark, moody, almost scary vibe. Scary in the sense that the song is talking about how "we don't live forever, all folks must pass away". But a very good song.

So yeah, "Mirror" is my favorite album overall, but another favorite is: "Now Do U Wanna Dance" with Larry on vocoder on the title cut. That bassline was ripping dance floors up! But so many songs on that album rock; "Love and Happiness", "Earthquake" with a 2 minute explosion at the end of that song that I used to blast on level 10 (effectively destroying my speakers!), "Last Train", might as well say the whole CD kicks ass!

Yeah, don't sleep on GCS.

PDogz said:

Speaking of Larry's bad slow jams, Is It Love from the My Radio Sure Sounds Good To Me album is 1 of my favs!

PDogz said:

All his albums have, but this indeed is where it comes to the fore more than others.

I think Prince took a few pointers from GCS; see how Larry thanks God in the linernotes and how multi coloured his band is; lots of people make Sly Stone connections, but I think Prince was more of a GCS fan than he was of Sly.

PDogz said:

Is Entrow an album? I couldn't see it listed on Amazon....

vainandy said:

Yeah, I was hip to GCS when I was little during the 70's. Largely due to my cousin,who was older than me, who had everything to do with funk. Him and just older cats that I knew. Cats that were in early high school and shit. They all bumped the shit out of GCS. So whenever I would go and buy albums with my mom, I would get these.

Jboogiee said:

Yeah, "Now Do U Wanna Dance" is a fave of mine as well. Mainly cuz of a heavier rock element in the tracks. wWhat I wish GCS did waaaay more of, more often. I used to, as a kid, and still do, have the "Mirror" album hanging on my wall. Cool album as well. Like I posted earlier, u can't go wrong with any of GCS albums.

blackguitaristz said:

There's a real killler Live GCS with George Johnson on guitar. It's from the 90s when the GCS reissue program started in Japan. Awesome, but it's oop.

Maybe I should turn it into a torrent stream.

MattyJam said:

'Entrow' is a cut on the 'Mirror' album. Check it out

MattyJam said:

FuNkeNsteiN said:

What FuNkeNsteiN said

vainandy said:

Thanx for the compliments man. I try to keep it cool. Like U, I believe entertainers need to look like entertainers. These Artists today just don't seem to even attempt to look like stars....instead they look just like ur neighbor next door. U need to post pix of these hats & show me what ya got..

As far as all these great Funk Jams U guys are mentioning....I'm making mental notes of all the Albums I need to find & add to my Funk collection. Keep schoolin' a young kid like me.
[Edited 11/11/07 6:42am]

vainandy said:

I remember when hearing "Earthquake" for the very first time,
and it was like beeing hit by a real one
/peace Manki

In fact.Often I would just listen to side 1.
After that I'd be too exhausted to flip it over
to side 2.
/peace Manki

PDogz said:

"G-C-S the baddest group from east to west"

I remember a local high school marching band drum line use to jam Entrow when i was a young cat.
[Edited 11/11/07 18:35pm]

I am quite fond of both drum breaks!

Yep' me too.