Mother Night

Mother Night - Mother Night - 1972 - Columbia

Mother Night were a 9 piece 60-70's soul/funk group band from New York. There is an amazing amalgamation of sounds here, like Tower Of Power, Blood Sweat, & Tears, Average White Band, War, Jimi Hendrix, Sly & The Family Stone, and countless more. A good album from a very obscure band.

Dusty Groove America had this to say, - "An obscure rocking funk combo from the early 70s -- one of a few, like Sweet Apple or High Voltage, who seemed to crop up on Columbia after the success of Sly & The Family Stone. Like those groups, and Sly, Mother Night's got a guitar-driven groove that was probably easy funk for the crossover crowd -- but like Sweet Apple, they're a bit hard-driven, with a heavy sound that really takes them over the top with a wild energy that probably kept them off of radio, and stuck in the underground. Lots of nice jamming, though, and these guys really know how to lay some jazzy chords into the mix to keep things fresh! Titles include "Julie Nixon", "Utopia", "Scuffle", "Warm Spot", "Groupie", "Guitar Man", and "Fools Are You".

Any info on this band / album would be greatly appreciated.

TRACKS

scuffle
today's another day
julie nixon
utopia
take a trip
fools are you
warm spot
groupie
guitar man

BAND

Eddie Martinez - Lead Guitar, Vocals
Bill Ohashi - Trombone
Sonny McPhee - Alto Sax., Vocals
Gary Pribek - Tenor Sax., Flute
Skip McPhee - Organ, Vocals
Val Burke - Bass, Vocals
Ronnie Pace - Lead Vocals, Trumpet, Piano, Congas
Arnold Ramsey - Drums, Organ, Guitar, Bass, Sax.

REVIEW [ FROM ralphcat © 2000 - 2009 rateyourmusic.com ]

I just bought this very rare album on wax and I must say it is indeed a damn good record overall. Very funky and very, very much a product of 1972. I mean shit, there's a cut about sending "roaches" to president Nixon's daughter Julie (track 3 "Julie Nixon"). The overall sound on the album is like Chicago Transit Authority mixed with Funkadelic (circa "America Eats It's Young") with a dash of War and Santana. The highlights of this one and only offering from this band are "Scuffle" (the frenetically funky opener), "Groupie" (an 8 minute soul/jazz/funk instrumental featuring one monster of a guitar solo), and the very Latin cut "Fools are You" which is simply one of the greatest songs I've ever heard. The remaining cuts sound a bit dated but are really good nonetheless. I also put the amazing album cover in my top three favourites of all time. I would love to see this released on C.D. someday soon. © ralphcat © 2000 - 2009 rateyourmusic.com