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PrintableMrSoulpower said: Most people believe that the Ohio Players started with the Westbound years (Pain being the first album released on that label in 1971).
But in reality, the Ohio Players started in 1968. They first put out this 45 om Trip Records. 
The track A Little Soul Party ended up on the group's debut album First Impressions, which was released on Compass/Trip. It's pretty hard to find these days. 
They released a second 45 from that album, a track called Trespassin'. 
They put out another album that year, Observations in Time, which was also released on Compass, but distributed through Capitol. Both releases flopped, and the band didn't record another album until they signed with Westbound. But obviously, the Ohio Players was meant to happen. I have a copy of a 1968 Downbeat magazine issue, which featured a James Brown interview. Brown, based out of Cincinnati at that time, was asked about new talents. He mentioned a young group out of Ohio, which would carry the Funk of the 1970s - the Ohio Players. Brown was pretty dead on with his prediction. 
Thanks for the info! I'd love to get my hands on those early albums. | |
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MrSoulpower said: A bit too polished for me. To me, Skin Tight was the last truly great Ohio Players album. They became a bit too stale after that.
I don't think "stale" is accurate at all, but that's your opinion. I don't debate opinions, but there are important facts to consider in any analysis of OP. The obvious is with the keys and compositional abilities of Junie removed the band became more horn-oriented and tended to just jam which pushed them into more jazzy textures. "ST" features one of the most phenomenally basic basslines, FIRE has sweaty fonkay very very nas-tay guitar all over it, including the sizzling guitar riff on the title with a marvelous congas timbales break. Further elaboring the obvious, OP's greatest commercial successes are post-Junie. "Fire" was their first (only?) #1 single and "Love Roller coaster" continues to be favorite among later bands like RHCP. (Regardless whether you like Peppers or not, but when a band takes a cover and makes it a major part of their career it says a lot about the original band's influence). Technically, those first 4 Mercury albums are standards of excellence in recording engineering. Anybody who prefers LPs over CDs will attest to this. The sound is some of the best in r&b, as good as the work Bruce Sweiden did for Quincy Jones. Personally, I don't find OP "stale' until after ANGEL, but I pick and choose tracks off all their albums as well as Junie's to get a good vibe [Edited 11/17/08 5:50am] test | |
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A few years ago I tracked down some of Junie's solo stuff.....cost my some serious cash. I really did not care for it that much. | |
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Graycap23 said: A few years ago I tracked down some of Junie's solo stuff.....cost my some serious cash. I really did not care for it that much.
Me and you both. Upper persuasion for the lower invasion | |
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essential 2 get on vinyl!!!
 man, he has such an amazing body of music that it's sad to see him constrict it down to the basics. he's too talented for the lineup he's doing. estelle 81 | |
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L4OATheOriginal said: essential 2 get on vinyl!!!
 for obvious reasons,that's an album that you MUST have on vinyl...lol
the title track is just....  | |
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