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The Relatives - The Electric Word
Label.........................: Yep Roc
Genre.........................: Funk
StoreDate.....................: Feb-19-2013
Source........................: CDDA
Grabber.......................: Exact Audio Copy (Secure Mode)
Encoding Scheme...............: Lame 3.98.4 V0 VBR Joint-Stereo
Size..........................: 66.02 MB
Total Playing Time............: 37:07
Release Notes:
The Rev. Gean West says he feels like Abraham, whom God made a father in
his dotage. ItÆs been 43 years since he and his brother Tommie formed
the gospel group the Relatives in Dallas and 33 years since the band
broke up after releasing a few funky singles but scoring no hits.
Yet here the West brothers are, putting out their first full-length
album, with several new songs and a few of their old numbers. At 75,
Gean West is touring again, playing places like Lincoln Center, the Bell
House in Brooklyn and JoeÆs Pub.
ôThis is a God-sent thing because of the way it came about, how
everything fell in place,ö he said, sitting in a dressing room with the
other original band members after a recent performance at the Greene
Space, the performance site of WNYC radio. The drummer Earnest
Tarkington, 66, nodded in agreement. ôGod kept us healthy for this
occasion,ö he said. Tommie, 66, the lead singer, chimed in: ôMy
congregation canÆt wait until the CD drops. Every one of them wants
one.ö
On Tuesday the Relatives released ôThe Electric Wordö (Yep Roc), a
collection of 10 gospel songs that the group recorded with the producer
Jim Eno last year in Austin, Tex. These are not traditional church
tracks. The Relatives sing a burning gospel refracted through the lens
of psychedelic rock, heavy R&B and 1970s funk. Their riffs and drum
grooves owe as much to Jimi Hendrix and Sly and the Family Stone as to
the Rev. James Cleveland and Shirley Caesar. ôEven back then people
would tell us that we was ahead of our time,ö Gean said. ôWe always did
our own thing.ö
These days forgotten groups like the Relatives are being resurrected by
young crate-digging producers at indie labels with some frequency, as
musicians weaned in the era of Auto-Tuned voices and electronic drum
tracks search for a rougher, handmade sound, an authenticity rooted in a
place and a time.
ôThere has been a backlash against overproduced music, and I think these
older cats have something to teach us about raw music,ö said Noel
Waggener, the producer who rediscovered the Relatives.
Others recently rescued from historyÆs dustbin include Rodriguez, the
Detroit songwriter who saw his long-dormant career revived over the last
year by the documentary movie and album ôSearching for Sugar Manö (Light
in the Attic Records). Similarly, Bettye LaVette, the R&B singer, was
saved from obscurity about 10 years ago, and Anti- records, home of
bands like Calexico and Dr. Dog, gave her a deal in 2005. Bill Bragin,
the director of public programming at Lincoln Center, said the trend was
not unlike the folk revival of the 1960s, when young musicians in
Greenwich Village sought out and recorded folk and blues masters like
the Rev. Gary Davis and Mississippi John Hurt. ôThere is always this
interest when you discover a great artist that somehow history never
picked up on,ö Mr. Bragin said.
For the Relatives the road back to making music started with a cracked
45 r.p.m. record that the mother of an Austin drummer, Mike Buck, found
at a thrift shop more than seven years ago and gave to her son. It was
one of the three singles the group had released in the early 1970s ù the
grooving ôDonÆt Let Me Fallö and, on the flip side, a funk number, ôRap
On.ö Mr. Buck, who also owns AntoneÆs Record Shop in Austin, shared the
recording with his friends, including Mr. Waggener, a founder of an
archival record label, Heavy Light. ôI was completely blown away,ö Mr.
Waggener said.
Mr. Waggener and his partner, Charisse Kelly, tracked down Gean
(pronounced gene) at a ramshackle church in Dallas, where he was pastor
over a dwindling flock. Surprised by the inquiry, he said there were
about five unreleased Relatives songs that Phil York, the Dallas
producer, had recorded in 1975. When Mr. Waggener and Ms. Kelly visited
Mr. York, he not only remembered the recording session but made them a
copy of the master, which he had called ôThe Electric Wordö because he
didnÆt know the groupÆs name.
Heavy Light reissued these recordings as an album, ôDonÆt Let Me Fall,ö
in 2009, which received good reviews. Gean West, who had a successful
career in the 1960s with influential gospel groups like the Mighty
Golden Voices and the Southernaires, reassembled a band to begin touring
again.
ôI didnÆt believe it,ö Mr. Tarkington recalled. ôI thought he was
crazy.ö Since only three of the original lineup of seven were healthy
enough to perform, Gean recruited two younger singers ù Tony Corbitt and
Tyron Edwards ù to fill out the sound.
Starting with a 2009 reunion concert at the Continental Club in Austin
the band spent the next three years barnstorming festivals with its
four-part harmonies and funky grooves. The group blew away a crowd at
the Ponderosa Stomp in New Orleans in September 2010, and that success
led to appearances at Austin City Limits and the Bonnaroo festivals. Mr.
Bragin engaged them to open for Mavis Staples at Lincoln Center Out of
Doors in the summer of 2011 and brought them back to headline a show
this year.
In March 2010, Mr. Eno, the producer and drummer for Spoon, heard the
Relatives play in Austin, opening for the garage-soul group Black Joe
Lewis & the Honeybears. Awed by the sound, he approached the Relatives
about recording an album. ôIt was this gospel group with heavy rock and
psychedelic influences,ö Mr. Eno said. ôI felt like this would be really
great to document.ö
During two sessions last year Mr. Eno preserved the groupÆs 1970s
rock-and-funk aura but also gave the sound a contemporary indie-rock
texture. The five gospel voices ù led by TommieÆs cracked and soulful
timbre ù are backed by a trio of young rockers from Austin: the
guitarist Zach Ernst, the drummer Matt Strmiska and the bassist Scott
Nelson. There are only two traditional gospel tunes on the album, one of
them the a cappella ôTrouble in My Way.ö The record is mostly
hard-driving R&B dance grooves that evoke James Brown or the
Parliaments, like the funky ôItÆs Coming Up Againö and the hypnotic ôLet
Your Light Shine.ö
The West brothers said it had been surreal to be touring again. Tommie
quit the group in the mid-1970s, started a bar and played in R&B bands
for a time.
ôWe was on our way to Houston, and Tommie and I was in the back seat and
I punched him and said, æMan, what are we doing back out here?Æ ö Gean
recalled. ôHe said, æMan, I donÆt know.Æ And we all started laughing.
ItÆs just amazing.ö
Tommie said people seem more open to their style now. The Relatives
often got a cool reception from older churchgoers in Dallas in the early
1970s. Their sound was too close to R&B for the church, too laden with
gospel lyrics for R&B radio. They ended up playing in hotel bars and
nightclubs as well as churches.
These days audience reaction at festivals and clubs has been more
open-minded, Tommie said. ôItÆs electrifying,ö he said. ôItÆs really
awesome. I get a charge, I get energy, when I look out and they are
clapping, they are jumping.ö
Tracklisting
01. Things Are Changing 3:51
02. Let Your Light Shine 4:50
03. What's Wrong With America 4:39
04. Bad Trip 4:46
05. Trouble In My Way 0:59
06. We Need Love 4:09
07. Revelations 3:25
08. Your Love Is Real 3:43
09. Say It Loud (It's Coming Up Again) 3:19
10. I Will Trust In The Lord 3:26
Support The Artists, Buy Their Music....
This NFO File was rendered by NFOmation.net
The Relatives - The Electric Word
Label.........................: Yep Roc
Genre.........................: Funk
StoreDate.....................: Feb-19-2013
Source........................: CDDA
Grabber.......................: Exact Audio Copy (Secure Mode)
Encoding Scheme...............: Lame 3.98.4 V0 VBR Joint-Stereo
Size..........................: 66.02 MB
Total Playing Time............: 37:07
Release Notes:
The Rev. Gean West says he feels like Abraham, whom God made a father in
his dotage. Its been 43 years since he and his brother Tommie formed
the gospel group the Relatives in Dallas and 33 years since the band
broke up after releasing a few funky singles but scoring no hits.
Yet here the West brothers are, putting out their first full-length
album, with several new songs and a few of their old numbers. At 75,
Gean West is touring again, playing places like Lincoln Center, the Bell
House in Brooklyn and Joes Pub.
This is a God-sent thing because of the way it came about, how
everything fell in place, he said, sitting in a dressing room with the
other original band members after a recent performance at the Greene
Space, the performance site of WNYC radio. The drummer Earnest
Tarkington, 66, nodded in agreement. God kept us healthy for this
occasion, he said. Tommie, 66, the lead singer, chimed in: My
congregation cant wait until the CD drops. Every one of them wants
one.
On Tuesday the Relatives released The Electric Word (Yep Roc), a
collection of 10 gospel songs that the group recorded with the producer
Jim Eno last year in Austin, Tex. These are not traditional church
tracks. The Relatives sing a burning gospel refracted through the lens
of psychedelic rock, heavy R&B and 1970s funk. Their riffs and drum
grooves owe as much to Jimi Hendrix and Sly and the Family Stone as to
the Rev. James Cleveland and Shirley Caesar. Even back then people
would tell us that we was ahead of our time, Gean said. We always did
our own thing.
These days forgotten groups like the Relatives are being resurrected by
young crate-digging producers at indie labels with some frequency, as
musicians weaned in the era of Auto-Tuned voices and electronic drum
tracks search for a rougher, handmade sound, an authenticity rooted in a
place and a time.
There has been a backlash against overproduced music, and I think these
older cats have something to teach us about raw music, said Noel
Waggener, the producer who rediscovered the Relatives.
Others recently rescued from historys dustbin include Rodriguez, the
Detroit songwriter who saw his long-dormant career revived over the last
year by the documentary movie and album Searching for Sugar Man (Light
in the Attic Records). Similarly, Bettye LaVette, the R&B singer, was
saved from obscurity about 10 years ago, and Anti- records, home of
bands like Calexico and Dr. Dog, gave her a deal in 2005. Bill Bragin,
the director of public programming at Lincoln Center, said the trend was
not unlike the folk revival of the 1960s, when young musicians in
Greenwich Village sought out and recorded folk and blues masters like
the Rev. Gary Davis and Mississippi John Hurt. There is always this
interest when you discover a great artist that somehow history never
picked up on, Mr. Bragin said.
For the Relatives the road back to making music started with a cracked
45 r.p.m. record that the mother of an Austin drummer, Mike Buck, found
at a thrift shop more than seven years ago and gave to her son. It was
one of the three singles the group had released in the early 1970s the
grooving Dont Let Me Fall and, on the flip side, a funk number, Rap
On. Mr. Buck, who also owns Antones Record Shop in Austin, shared the
recording with his friends, including Mr. Waggener, a founder of an
archival record label, Heavy Light. I was completely blown away, Mr.
Waggener said.
Mr. Waggener and his partner, Charisse Kelly, tracked down Gean
(pronounced gene) at a ramshackle church in Dallas, where he was pastor
over a dwindling flock. Surprised by the inquiry, he said there were
about five unreleased Relatives songs that Phil York, the Dallas
producer, had recorded in 1975. When Mr. Waggener and Ms. Kelly visited
Mr. York, he not only remembered the recording session but made them a
copy of the master, which he had called The Electric Word because he
didnt know the groups name.
Heavy Light reissued these recordings as an album, Dont Let Me Fall,
in 2009, which received good reviews. Gean West, who had a successful
career in the 1960s with influential gospel groups like the Mighty
Golden Voices and the Southernaires, reassembled a band to begin touring
again.
I didnt believe it, Mr. Tarkington recalled. I thought he was
crazy. Since only three of the original lineup of seven were healthy
enough to perform, Gean recruited two younger singers Tony Corbitt and
Tyron Edwards to fill out the sound.
Starting with a 2009 reunion concert at the Continental Club in Austin
the band spent the next three years barnstorming festivals with its
four-part harmonies and funky grooves. The group blew away a crowd at
the Ponderosa Stomp in New Orleans in September 2010, and that success
led to appearances at Austin City Limits and the Bonnaroo festivals. Mr.
Bragin engaged them to open for Mavis Staples at Lincoln Center Out of
Doors in the summer of 2011 and brought them back to headline a show
this year.
In March 2010, Mr. Eno, the producer and drummer for Spoon, heard the
Relatives play in Austin, opening for the garage-soul group Black Joe
Lewis & the Honeybears. Awed by the sound, he approached the Relatives
about recording an album. It was this gospel group with heavy rock and
psychedelic influences, Mr. Eno said. I felt like this would be really
great to document.
During two sessions last year Mr. Eno preserved the groups 1970s
rock-and-funk aura but also gave the sound a contemporary indie-rock
texture. The five gospel voices led by Tommies cracked and soulful
timbre are backed by a trio of young rockers from Austin: the
guitarist Zach Ernst, the drummer Matt Strmiska and the bassist Scott
Nelson. There are only two traditional gospel tunes on the album, one of
them the a cappella Trouble in My Way. The record is mostly
hard-driving R&B dance grooves that evoke James Brown or the
Parliaments, like the funky Its Coming Up Again and the hypnotic Let
Your Light Shine.
The West brothers said it had been surreal to be touring again. Tommie
quit the group in the mid-1970s, started a bar and played in R&B bands
for a time.
We was on our way to Houston, and Tommie and I was in the back seat and
I punched him and said, Man, what are we doing back out here? Gean
recalled. He said, Man, I dont know. And we all started laughing.
Its just amazing.
Tommie said people seem more open to their style now. The Relatives
often got a cool reception from older churchgoers in Dallas in the early
1970s. Their sound was too close to R&B for the church, too laden with
gospel lyrics for R&B radio. They ended up playing in hotel bars and
nightclubs as well as churches.
These days audience reaction at festivals and clubs has been more
open-minded, Tommie said. Its electrifying, he said. Its really
awesome. I get a charge, I get energy, when I look out and they are
clapping, they are jumping.
Tracklisting
01. Things Are Changing 3:51
02. Let Your Light Shine 4:50
03. What's Wrong With America 4:39
04. Bad Trip 4:46
05. Trouble In My Way 0:59
06. We Need Love 4:09
07. Revelations 3:25
08. Your Love Is Real 3:43
09. Say It Loud (It's Coming Up Again) 3:19
10. I Will Trust In The Lord 3:26
Support The Artists, Buy Their Music....
This NFO File was rendered by NFOmation.net
