WILLIE BOBO -HELL OF AN ACT TO FOLLOW/BOBO
Willie Bobo was one of the great Latin percussionists of his time. Bobo began on the bongos at age 14, but he is best known for his Timbales and Conga playing in Afro Cuban Jazz . Willie Bobo was the stage name of William Correa the nickname Bobo is said to have been bestowed by the jazz pianist Mary Lou Williams in the early 50's .William Correa grew up in Spanish Harlem New York City . where he met Mongo Santamaria shortly after his arrival and studied with him while acting as his translator, and later at age 19 joined Tito Puente for four years. Bobo and Santamaria became part of the Cal Tjader Modern Mambo Quintet, who released several albums as the mambo craze reached fever pitch in the late '50s.
After working with Cal Tjader and Herbie Mann and Santamaria with whom he recorded the evergreen Latin standard "Afro-Blue" — Bobo stepped forward in 1963 with his first recording as a leader. But it was after recording 3 solo albums that Willie featured on Cal Tjader's classic 'Soul Sauce' which brought him to the attention of Verve records , where he made 8 albums between 1965-68 that established him as a solo artist. These albums contained a mixture of original material and Latin covers of R&B and pop songs.HIs bands included many future band leaders like Joe Farrell and Chick Corea. During the 60's he also played on many great recordings made by artists including MIles Davis, Cannonball Adderley, Herbie Hancock, Wes Montgomery and Chico Hamilton.
In 1969, he moved to Los Angeles where he led jazz and Latin jazz combos, appeared on Billy Cosby's first comedy series (1969-1971) and short-lived 1976 'Cos' variety show, he also appeared on Cosby's Bad Foot Brown and Bunions Bradford Funeral Marching Band album on Sussex, the label where he made his 1971 album 'Do What You Want To Do' that features the popular track 'Broasted Or Fried'. After an album on Blue Note, Willie signed to Columbia in 1978 where he recorded these two albums which were to be last of his career, as he died from cancer in 1983 aged 49.
'Hell Of An Act To Follow' was produced by Wayne Henderson for At-Home productions. The album featured some great musicians including Bobby Lyle and Conga/Latin Percussionist Victor Pantoja. Henderson gave Bobo a more sophisticated production style and the album has become a 'jazz funk' classic. It features a great and possibly definitive version of Ronnie Laws classic 'Always There', we also include the rare remix promo only 12" version as a bonus cut. There are also covers of The Crusaders 'Keep That Same Old Feeling' (featuring Augie Johnson, Sylvia St James and others on background vocals) , Lyle's 'Pisces' and A.C Jobim's 'Dindi' which Bobo said was his favorite song, on which Willie gives a good vocal rendition. .
The second album featured is 'Bobo' from 1979 was produced by Willie along with Stan Silverberg, and features in the main a different band to 'Hell Of An Act'. It is much more of a vocal album featuring Errol Knowles on the popular 2 stepper 'Comin Over Me', the ballad 'It’s over' and the up-tempo dancer 'Reason For Livin', with Willie being more evident on 'Palos'.
Willie has left us with a great musical legacy, and we are proud to present them on CD for the first time as part of our classic albums series. Willie is succeeded by his son Eric 'Bobo' Correa who is a percussionist in the band Cypress Hill.
ALWAYS THERE |
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KEEP THAT SAME OLD FEELING |
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TOGETHER |
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PISCES |
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DINDI |
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SNORT OF GREEN |
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FAIRYTALES FOR TWO |
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SIXTY TWO FIFTY |
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PALOS |
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COMIN OVER ME |
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LATIN LADY |
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IT'S OVER |
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REASON FOR LIVING |
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REASON WHY |
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SET YOU FREE |
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FATHER AND SON |
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Lady Love - Barbara Mason
Barbara Mason was born in 1947 in Philadelphia, and by the age of 12 was already starting her musical legacy. In 1965 she had a major R&B and Pop chart hit with her self written ‘Yes I’m Ready’ on the Artic label which is generally acknowledged as one of the first Philly-Soul classics. She recorded two albums for Artic in the 60’s and another for National General in 1971 before signing to Buddah later that year.
Her debut album for Buddah ‘Give Me Your Love’ contained a reworking of her classic ‘Yes I’m Ready’, and another ballad hit ‘Bed And Board’. For her second Buddah album ‘Lady Love’ also recorded at Sigma sound Philadelphia in 1973, Barbara recut ‘Bed And Board’ and extended it to over 8 mins with a spoken word ‘rap’ section similar to the style that Millie Jackson later became famous for on with her ‘Caught Up’ albums.
Barbara recorded a reply to Billy Paul’s big hit and with the gender change it became ‘Mr And Mr Jones’, and is a very popular track. Barbara would later recorded replies to other songs, most famously Shirley Brown’s ‘Woman To Woman’ and Richard Dimples Fields ‘She’s Got Papers on Me’. The albums longest track ‘World War 3’ at 10 minutes is a more groove driven semi funky horn backed Philly track , that showed the direction she was heading to with her next album.
We also include as a bonus track the beautiful ‘Child Of Tomorrow’ which was taken from the ‘Gordon’s War’ soundtrack and released as a single. Barbara became known after the albums’ title ‘Lady Love’ because of her affinity to love ballads during this period of her career.
The album has been a collectors item for many years and we are proud to be able to present it for the first time on CD re-mastered from the original masters, as part of our classic albums series.
ME AND MRS. JONES |
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BED AND BOARD (EXTENDED VERSION) |
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WHO’D EVER THINK |
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WORLD WAR THREE |
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CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE |
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I MISS YOU GORDON |
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ALL IN LOVE IS FAIR |
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CHILD OF TOMORROW |
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Give Me Your Love - Barbara Mason
Barbara released a string of singles starting with the non album track ‘Pow Pow Song’ then the hit ‘Bed And Board’ which had a more adult feel to it and was to set the tone for a lot of her material on Buddah, and at the time was considered a little risky for a female singer. The album mainly comprises of Philly soul ballads which was to be Barbara’s trademark sound. Most of the songs on the album were recorded at Sigma Studios Philadelphia featuring many of the Philly great’s Leon Huff, Norman Harris, Earl Young, and Vince Montana (who did all the arrangements).etc. Barbara re-cut her 60’s hit ‘Yes I’m Ready’ and extended it to 9 minutes with more sophisticated arrangements, with ad lib vocals making for many people the definitive version of this track which she was to record many times during her career. We also feature here the shorter non album 7” version.
Barbara was sent to Chicago to work with Curtis Mayfield on his ‘Give Me your Love’ which he had written for his Superfly soundtrack. Barbara’s version became the hit reaching the R&B top ten. Curtis also produced the flip side ‘You Can Be With The One You Don’t Love’. The album cover featuring Barbara wearing only a man’s shirt was put on a giant Billboard on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles and caused a lot of interest, a smaller version was put inside the sleeve as a pop up picture, not surprisingly most second hand copies are missing this picture.
YES I’M READY |
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WHEN I FALL IN LOVE |
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EVERYTHING I OWN |
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LET ME IN YOUR LIFE |
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BED AND BOARD |
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WHO WILL YOU HURT NEXT |
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YOU CAN BE WITH THE ONE YOU DON’T LOVE |
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OUT OF THIS WORLD |
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GIVE ME YOUR LOVE |
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BRIDGES - Gil Scott Heron/Brian Jackson
Gil Scott Heron is justifiably recognised as one of the most unique black music artists of all time. His music transgresses all musical barriers in the same way that Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley and Marvin Gaye did. Along with his song writing partner, MD and co-producer Brian Jackson he recorded some of the most memorable songs of the 1970’s, songs which combined a message with powerful rhythms.
‘Bridges’ their 1977 album is one of their best , yet one that is often overlooked.
Bridges takes you on a journey it is both lyrically and musically on point throughout and is an album that you can revisit time and time again and be informed, inspired and uplifted by.
On this album Brian Jackson plays Synthesiser bass, one of the earliest uses of an instrument that was to reshape the sound of soul music in the Eighties. ‘Racetrack In France’ and ‘Hello Sunday Hello Road’ are joyful up tempo tracks reflecting experiences from life on the road. ‘We Almost Lost Detroit’ tells of a near accident at a nuclear power station that had the potential to wipe the motor city off the map. In ‘Delta Man’ (Where I’m Coming From) you can hear the deep emotion in Gil’s voice as he reflects on his ancestry back to the Mississippi cotton fields.
HELLO SUNDAY ! HELLO ROAD |
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SONG OF THE WIND |
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RACETRACK IN FRANCE |
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VILDGOLIA (DEAF DUMB AND BLIND) |
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UNDER THE HAMMER |
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WE ALMOST LOST DETROIT |
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TUSKEEGGEE # 626 |
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DELTA MAN (WHERE I’M COMING FROM) |
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95 SOUTH (ALL OF THE PLACES WE’VE BEEN ) |
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SECRETS - Gil Scott Heron/Brian Jackson
This 1978 album continues the journey started in the ‘Bridges’ album of 1977 and is another of their best albums. Secrets again features Brian Jackson on Synthesiser Bass which along with Harvey Mason’s drums underpins the deep sound. As with all their albums the lyrics are poignant and informative of society in the 1970’s.
‘Angel Dust’ warns of the dangers of drug abuse ‘Show Bizness’ is an hilarious look at the perils of the music business (‘they’ll take care of everything for only 95%’), whilst ‘Madison Avenue’ talks of the over commercialisation of western society (‘Buying is all that’s asked of you’). ‘Better Days’ Ahead’ and ‘Prayer For Everybody’ see Gil in a more optimistic light hoping for a better future, which are especially relevant today. |
As featured on BBC Financial news website ‘the best soul album you’ve never heard’
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