January 16, 2012

Link

Funk and pop saxophonist Jimmy Castor died today at 2:30 p.m. in Las Vegas from causes that are currently unknown. He was 64.

While he had several notable hits, it was his 1972 single, "Troglodyte (Cave Man)," that had the most success. It's been certified gold by the RIAA and, in terms of more current music, has been sampled by a slew of hip-hop acts.

N.W.A. used it on two different tracks, "Gangsta Gangsta" and "The Dayz of Wayback," and Audio Two had it on the DJ Clark Kent mix of "Top Billin'."

Most recently, you probably heard Castor's "I Just Wanna Stop" on Kanye West's "We Don't Care" off his debut, The College Dropout.

There isn’t any easy way to explain how much influence Jimmy Castor has had on music, tangible or otherwise. But it’s important to frame Castor outside the novelty of “Bertha Butt Boogie.” Castor put the fun in funk, and pioneered a dense, full-throttle style.

Whoa! Didn't see this one coming.

RIP

http://www.youtube.com/wa...tixxjErKao

[Edited 1/16/12 19:15pm]

Hmm, I actually think he's older than he says. His recording career spanned six and a half decades. He wrote and performed the Teenagers hit "I Promise to Remember", which he also was the first to record (at fourteen I believe). Then when Frankie Lymon left, he became a member for a time before going off on his own. So he was actually 68 if I'm correct.

Either way what a tragic loss. Now this guy is really "unsung".

R.I.P Jimmy

I will always remember jammin to Bertha Butt Boogie as a kid.

Timmy84 said:

Hmm, I actually think he's older than he says. His recording career spanned six and a half decades. He wrote and performed the Teenagers hit "I Promise to Remember", which he also was the first to record (at fourteen I believe). Then when Frankie Lymon left, he became a member for a time before going off on his own. So he was actually 68 if I'm correct.

Either way what a tragic loss. Now this guy is really "unsung".

Sad news. He is UnSung because he is pretty much known as a one-hit wonder for Hey Leroy. Although, if you are only going to be know for one hit, that was definitely a jam. I love that song to this day!

bellanoche said:

Timmy84 said:

Hmm, I actually think he's older than he says. His recording career spanned six and a half decades. He wrote and performed the Teenagers hit "I Promise to Remember", which he also was the first to record (at fourteen I believe). Then when Frankie Lymon left, he became a member for a time before going off on his own. So he was actually 68 if I'm correct.

Either way what a tragic loss. Now this guy is really "unsung".

Sad news. He is UnSung because he is pretty much known as a one-hit wonder for Hey Leroy. Although, if you are only going to be know for one hit, that was definitely a jam. I love that song to this day!

Actually he was a two-hit wonder lol don't forget about "Troglodyte".

An original one man band

Goodbye Mr. Castor

@ Leroy's description. I bet Jimmy drew that himself. He really was "The Everything Man".

Identity said:

Bump Bump Bump Bump Bump buh Bump Bump Bump Bump Bump Bump

He made some great music, It's Just Begun , King Kong, and E Man are my favs, RIP Jimmy

[Edited 1/17/12 14:39pm]

Timmy84 said:

bellanoche said:

Sad news. He is UnSung because he is pretty much known as a one-hit wonder for Hey Leroy. Although, if you are only going to be know for one hit, that was definitely a jam. I love that song to this day!

Actually he was a two-hit wonder lol don't forget about "Troglodyte".

Oh yes, how could I forget that little gem. That one got a lot a play.

So sad... R.I.P

jimmy had more than two hits people, get a clue. rip mr castor u did great.

my favorite Jimmy Castor song:

"It's Just Begun" (1973)

This song later became a breaakdance favorite and was featured in the hit 1983 movie 'Flashdance'

70s R&B flashback: "Potential" by The Jimmy Castor Bunch (1975)

Jimmy Castor Bunch Supersound - Featuring the Everything Man

...A Retrospective & Bang, Bang



...When? & Space Age






Music for adventurous listeners

tA

Tribal Records

R.I.P.

Another good artist gone.

Where's the sticky for this, wow this was a shock to hear. I'm slowly but surely building my Jimmy Castor catalouge, he was indeed a true legend in the buisness that did not get his due, gone too damn soon. GOD bless his family and friends during this time of mourning.

The Death of Jimmy Castor

Rolling Stone

January 17, 2012

Link

Jimmy Castor – leader of the Jimmy Castor Bunch, a funk and soul band with a string of hits in the Seventies – died yesterday of unknown causes in Las Vegas. He was 64.

A saxophonist and percussionist whose bands played a broad range of R&B and dance music, Castor was nicknamed "the Everything Man."

The Jimmy Castor Bunch's hits included "Troglodyte (Cave Man)" (which was sampled by N.W.A.), "It's Just Begun" (featured in the breakdance battle scene in the 1983 movie Flashdance) and novelties such as "The Bertha Butt Boogie." Ice Cube and Eric B. and Rakim are among the many hip-hop acts to sample Castor's music over the years; Kanye West sampled one of his records on The College Dropout.

Late in his career, Castor toured with a version of the doo-wop group the Teenagers, whose late singer, Frankie Lymon, had been a boyhood schoolmate of Castor's in New York.

Remembering Jimmy Castor

Los Angeles Times

Link

January 17, 2012

Really, all you need to do to appreciate the music of Jimmy Castor, who died in Las Vegas on Monday at the age of 64, is to listen to the Jimmy Castor Bunch's freaky song "Troglodyte (Cave Man)" from 1972, one of the weirdest, hardest funk jams you'll ever hear.

It kicks off with spoken word introduction, eases into a rhythm, shifts into drive and then just keeps going, one hard riff that moves through the track -- about a cave man looking for love -- while Castor barks out the story. If Parliament-Funkadelic were looking to outer space and the future for inspiration, kindred spirit Castor, who was making music at the same time, was digging into the prehistoric past.

Another way of appreciating the funk man's legend is to pay attention to the samples. One of the foundational sources of early hip-hop and electronic dance producers, the music of Jimmy Castor Bunch, who at their prime in the mid-'70s were pumping jams that would soon become rap, is woven through the very essence of the music.

Those who used Castor's music, to name but a few, include Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Eric B and Rakim, N.W.A., Big Daddy Kane, Jungle Bros. (the piano riff in "J Beez Comin' Through"), Beastie Boys ("Hold It, Now Hit It" features a sample of Castor screaming, "Yo, Leroy!"). Castor's "The Bertha Butt Boogie," a kinda-sorta sequel to "Troglodyte," makes an appearance in Ice Cube's track "Friday." And Kanye West understood Castor's allure, using the Jimmy Castor Bunch's version of "I Just Wanna Stop" to build his early track "We Don't Care."

The list goes on, but to fully appreciate the unsung music of a one-of-a-kind musician, dig into the vaults.

a great talent RIP Jimmy

Funk in Heavenly Peace Jimmy Castor!!!!!!!

Shocked!

RIP... one of the ministers' of Funk.

Timmy84 said:

I actually think he's older than he says.

Some media reports list his age at 71.