RAMSEY LEWIS - Funky Serenity/ Ramsey Lewis’s Newly Recorded, All-Time, Non-Stop, GOLDEN HITS/ Solar Wind/Sun Goddess
BGO BGOCD1335
Funky Serenity -
Ramsey Lewis (Wurlitzer electric piano, Fender Rhodes electric piano, electric harpsichord, Steinway Concert Grand); Cleveland Eaton, (bass, percussion); Morris Jennings (drums, conga, percussion); Ed Green (percussion, electric violin).
Ramsey Lewis’s Newly Recorded, All-Time, Non-Stop, GOLDEN HITS -
Ramsey Lewis (piano, electric piano); Cleveland Eaton, (bass, electric bass); Morris Jennings (drums, percussion);
Solar Wind -
Ramsey Lewis (keyboards, synthesiser); Cleveland Eaton, (bass, electric bass); Morris Jennings (drums, percussion); James L. Hersen (moog synthesiser); Calvin Barnes (percussion); Carl Marsh (drums); Ron Capone (drums); Steve Cropper (guitar)
Sun Goddess -
Ramsey Lewis (piano, synthesiser, electric piano, Wurlitzer piano); Cleveland Eaton, (bass, electric bass); Morris Jennings (drums, percussion); Maurice White (timbales, drums, vocals); Philip Bailey (congas, vocals); Verdine White (bass, vocals); Johnny Graham (guitar); Don Myrick (tenor sax); Charles Stepney (guitar, synthesiser); Byron Gregory (guitar); Derf Reklaw Raheem (drums, percussion, vocals)
All albums recorded between 1973 and 1974 in New York, Chicago and Memphis
In the mid-1960s, keyboardist Ramsey Lewis had the kind of success many jazz artists can only dream of, with three Gold singles, each selling more than a million copies – ‘The In-Crowd,’ ‘Wade In The Water’ and ‘Hang On Sloopy.’ Lewis’s piano trio played a heady mix of jazz, pop and gospel which proved to be a hit with the public. At the time, the Chicagoan musician was signed to local record label Chess, but Lewis’s success attracted the attention of the major labels, including Columbia Records, whom Lewis signed with in 1972. This collection tracks Lewis’s early years with Columbia (he stayed with the label until 1989), and covers his second, third, fourth and fifth albums for the label – Lewis’s first Columbia album, 1972’s Upendo Ni Pajoha (Swahili for ‘Love Is Pajoha’) is not included.
Even so, this release is a fascinating documentation of Lewis’s musical evolution, with the keyboardist gradually incorporating more electronic instrumentation into the music and augmenting the trio line-up of Lewis, Cleveland Eaton (bass) and Morris Jennings (drums) with additional musicians. As ever, BGO has put together an excellent package that offers superb value for money – the four albums are digitally remastered on two discs, with the whole package costing just £10. The packaging includes a proper CD jewel case, slip case, and a thick booklet containing the original album credits and liner notes, as well as extensive (and excellent) new liner notes from jazz writer Charles Waring, which include a new interview with Ramsey Lewis.
A number of jazz keyboardists found crossover success in the 1970s, but whereas players such as, Joe Zawinul, Herbie Hancock, Chic Corea, Jan Hammer and George Duke, went down the jazz-rock-fusion or jazz-funk path, Lewis opted for a mixing jazz with pop and R&B – although funk would be added to the mix later on. This had led some to dismiss Lewis’s music as being lightweight or even MOR, but this doesn’t do either the man or the music any justice, as these albums reveal.
Funky Serenity saw the trio joined by percussionist/violinist Ed Green, and Lewis playing electric piano and electric harpsichord, as well as acoustic piano. Incidentally, the album’s executive producer was Teo Macero, best known for his association with Miles Davis. Green composed the opening cut, ‘Kunfanya Maperzi (Making Love)’ which has a funky electric harpsichord riff and hand claps much to the fore. It’s a lively number and easy to see why an edited version was released as a single, although it did not chart. The album includes a number of covers, namely, Luther Ingram’s ‘If Loving You Is Wrong (I Don’t Want To Be Right)’, The Stylistics ‘Betcha By Golly Wow,’ Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway’s ‘Where Is The Love,’ and The Moody Blues’, ‘Nights In White Satin.’ None of the covers stray much from the original arrangement, and on ‘Nights,’ Ed Green’s violin takes the place of the lead vocals. Green’s other composition, ‘My Love For You,’ is a pleasant ballad with Lewis playing electric piano.
The trio has three compositions on this album. The swinging ‘What It Is’ could be the offspring of ‘Wade In The Water,’ while ‘Serene Funk’ is a bluesy number, with Lewis getting down and funky on Wurlitzer and Eaton adding electronic effects to his bass. It is, to use the parlance, a toe-tapper. The eight-minute ‘Dreams’ ought to be called ‘Nightmares’. It starts with a phalanx of weird, distorted electronic sounds – think of the soundtrack used in cinema to portray someone on a bad LSD trip and you’ll have some idea of what it sounds like. The track then alternates between dream-like sections and mid-tempo funk. Waring notes that Funky Serenity failed to make much impression in the pop or R&B charts, although it was a top ten jazz album. I was pleasantly surprised by this album and there is plenty of good music on it to make it well worth a listen.
The relative lack of success of Lewis’s first two albums for Columbia saw a radical shift in musical direction and the band going back to the future. The new album had one of the worst album titles of all time - Ramsey Lewis’s Newly Recorded, All-Time, Non-Stop, GOLDEN HITS – combined with one of the worst album covers. The band reverted back to a trio with Lewis playing acoustic piano or electric piano. The album includes cover versions of Lewis’s biggest hits – the revived ‘Hang On Sloopy’ is played at a slower tempo than the original, while ‘Wade In The Water’ sticks closely to the 1966 version. ‘The In Crowd’ is punchier than the original and includes some funky organ riffs. War’s ‘Slippin’ Into Darkness’ – a minor hit from Upendo Ni Pajoha, is the same version that appears on that album, with shimmering electric piano, a funk bass riff and handclaps. ‘Hi Heel Sneakers’ is dominated by the sound of a clavinet, and may well have been inspired by Stevie Wonder’s ‘Superstition.’ There’s also a spirited version of Bizet’s ‘Carmen,’ driven by an infectious acoustic bass vamp and rippling electric piano lines. The expression ‘never judge a book by its cover’ is most fitting when it comes to this album, because despite the silly title and cartoon cover, there is a lot of music to enjoy on the disc.
The next album, Solar Wind, used additional musicians, including guitarist Steve Cropper, from Booker T and the MGs, who also produced several tracks. Lewis also added synthesisers to his keyboard line-up, and occasionally used a second keyboardist on some tracks. The uptempo ‘Sweet and Tender You’ – produced by Cropper- is evocative of the 60s trio sound, with a swinging rhythm and some superb playing by Lewis on acoustic piano. The band covers two Seals and Crofts songs, ‘Hummingbird’ and ‘Summer Breeze,’ (both feature James L. Hersen on Moog synthesiser), while the Lewis/Eaton composition ‘Jamaican Marketplace’ is a pleasant 7-minute mid-tempo jazz-funk tune.
The Caribbean feel is retained with the band’s lively cover of Sonny Rollins’ ‘The Everywhere Calypso.’ Other covers include a jazzy version of Paul Simon’s ‘Love’s Me Like A Rock,’ and a radical reworking of Elton John’s ballad ‘Come Down In Time,’ which includes an Eaton solo and some weird electronic sound effects mid-way through the track. . The closing track - another Cropper production – ‘Love For A Day,’ is another funky workout with Lewis on acoustic piano and Cropper’s wah-wah laced guitar riffs. Solar Wind in the words of Waring, ‘sank without a trace,’ which is a shame, as this album deserves a wider hearing.
They say that timing is everything and that is certainly the case with the fourth and final album on this collection, Sun Goddess. In 1974, Lewis was in Chicago recording his next album, when he heard from Maurice White, leader of the soul/funk band Earth, Wind & Fire. White had joined Lewis’s trio in 1966, playing on several albums including, Wade In The Water. Three years later, White left the trio to form the band that eventually became Earth, Wind & Fire.
Speaking to Charles Waring, Lewis recalled how he received a call in the studio from an excited White, who was in New York. He claimed that he had a new song for Lewis that was going to be “Bigger than ‘The In Crowd.’” Lewis wasn’t convinced, but agreed that White could come to Chicago with the song. When White arrived, he was joined by several other members of Earth, Wind & Fire, and they recorded the White’s tune, ‘Hot Dawgit.’ Lewis says that just White and his band members were about to pack up and leave, White remembered another tune he thought Lewis might want to record. The tune was ‘Sun Goddess.’
As a result, Sun Goddess is a hybrid album, with two Earth, Wind & Fire-produced tunes and five more produced by Lewis and Teo Macero. ‘Sun Goddess’ is the opening number, an eight-minute masterpiece; a mid-tempo Latin-Jazz number with a catchy guitar riff played by Earth, Wind & Fire’s Johnny Graham, a wordless chant sung by White and fellow lead vocalist Philip Bailey, with an extended solo by Lewis on electric piano, and a terrific tenor sax solo by Don Myrick, who would go onto become a member of Earth, Wind & Fire’s horn section, The Phenix Horns. The next track is a funky version of Stevie Wonder’s ‘Living For The City,’ performed as a trio with support from a string section. ‘Love Song’ sees the trio playing this mid-tempo number with guitarist Byron Gregory.
‘Jungle Strut’ is one of my favourites and takes Lewis’s sound close to fun and funk played by the late George Duke, with quirky vocals (provided percussionist Derf Reklaw Raheem), a heavy backbeat and an array of electronic keyboards. ‘Hot Dawgit’, the second Earth, Wind and Fire number, is a bluesy, mid-tempo number with wordless vocals. Quite why Maurice White thought it was a sure-fire hit is a mystery, because it’s pretty mediocre and quite forgettable. ‘Tambura’ has echoes of Herbie Hancock’s ‘Chameleon’ with a burbling synth bass line, wah-wah guitar and funky electronic piano. The album’s closer, ‘Gemini’ is a trio performance has a dramatic out-of-tempo intro before settling down into a straight-ahead number, with Eaton’s walking bass line; Jennings’ syncopated beats and Lewis’s swirling electric piano lines creating an enjoyable brew.
‘Hot Dawgit’ was released as a single in late 1974, barely managed to scrape into the Billboard Top 50 Pop chart and soon dropped out of public consciousness. Despite the single’s disappointing sales, the Sun Goddess album continued to sell well and Columbia soon learnt that it was the title track that was driving sales (the striking album cover probably helped too). As a result, in 1975, a single version was released (in fact, there were two single mixes – one with, and one without, a tenor sax solo). The single reached the Top 20 soul singles chart and 44 in the pop chart, while the album reached number one in both the soul and jazz charts, and number 12 in the pop chart. The album catapulted Lewis’s career, and the association with Earth, Wind & Fire – who became major international artists in 1975, following their number one pop album That’s The Way Of The World and number one pop single ‘Shining Star,’ – certainly helped drive sales. And as Lewis explained to Waring – he always plays ‘Sun Goddess’ in concert, but never ‘Hot Dawgit’…
Lewis would go onto tour with Earth, Wind & Fire, and the band would release their own version of ‘Sun Goddess,’ on the 1976 live album Gratitude (the sax solo however, was played by the band’s woodwind player Andrew Woolfolk, even though Myrick was in the Phenix Horns section). There is no doubt that Sun Goddess marked a turning point in Lewis’s fortunes and it’s to Columbia Record’s credit that they were content to wait years for that success to arrive. This is an excellent package and the Sun Goddess album alone would make it a worthwhile purchase.
Reviewed by George Cole
BGO BGOCD1335
Funky Serenity -
Ramsey Lewis (Wurlitzer electric piano, Fender Rhodes electric piano, electric harpsichord, Steinway Concert Grand); Cleveland Eaton, (bass, percussion); Morris Jennings (drums, conga, percussion); Ed Green (percussion, electric violin).
Ramsey Lewis’s Newly Recorded, All-Time, Non-Stop, GOLDEN HITS -
Ramsey Lewis (piano, electric piano); Cleveland Eaton, (bass, electric bass); Morris Jennings (drums, percussion);
Solar Wind -
Ramsey Lewis (keyboards, synthesiser); Cleveland Eaton, (bass, electric bass); Morris Jennings (drums, percussion); James L. Hersen (moog synthesiser); Calvin Barnes (percussion); Carl Marsh (drums); Ron Capone (drums); Steve Cropper (guitar)
Sun Goddess -
Ramsey Lewis (piano, synthesiser, electric piano, Wurlitzer piano); Cleveland Eaton, (bass, electric bass); Morris Jennings (drums, percussion); Maurice White (timbales, drums, vocals); Philip Bailey (congas, vocals); Verdine White (bass, vocals); Johnny Graham (guitar); Don Myrick (tenor sax); Charles Stepney (guitar, synthesiser); Byron Gregory (guitar); Derf Reklaw Raheem (drums, percussion, vocals)
All albums recorded between 1973 and 1974 in New York, Chicago and Memphis
In the mid-1960s, keyboardist Ramsey Lewis had the kind of success many jazz artists can only dream of, with three Gold singles, each selling more than a million copies – ‘The In-Crowd,’ ‘Wade In The Water’ and ‘Hang On Sloopy.’ Lewis’s piano trio played a heady mix of jazz, pop and gospel which proved to be a hit with the public. At the time, the Chicagoan musician was signed to local record label Chess, but Lewis’s success attracted the attention of the major labels, including Columbia Records, whom Lewis signed with in 1972. This collection tracks Lewis’s early years with Columbia (he stayed with the label until 1989), and covers his second, third, fourth and fifth albums for the label – Lewis’s first Columbia album, 1972’s Upendo Ni Pajoha (Swahili for ‘Love Is Pajoha’) is not included.
Even so, this release is a fascinating documentation of Lewis’s musical evolution, with the keyboardist gradually incorporating more electronic instrumentation into the music and augmenting the trio line-up of Lewis, Cleveland Eaton (bass) and Morris Jennings (drums) with additional musicians. As ever, BGO has put together an excellent package that offers superb value for money – the four albums are digitally remastered on two discs, with the whole package costing just £10. The packaging includes a proper CD jewel case, slip case, and a thick booklet containing the original album credits and liner notes, as well as extensive (and excellent) new liner notes from jazz writer Charles Waring, which include a new interview with Ramsey Lewis.
A number of jazz keyboardists found crossover success in the 1970s, but whereas players such as, Joe Zawinul, Herbie Hancock, Chic Corea, Jan Hammer and George Duke, went down the jazz-rock-fusion or jazz-funk path, Lewis opted for a mixing jazz with pop and R&B – although funk would be added to the mix later on. This had led some to dismiss Lewis’s music as being lightweight or even MOR, but this doesn’t do either the man or the music any justice, as these albums reveal.
Funky Serenity saw the trio joined by percussionist/violinist Ed Green, and Lewis playing electric piano and electric harpsichord, as well as acoustic piano. Incidentally, the album’s executive producer was Teo Macero, best known for his association with Miles Davis. Green composed the opening cut, ‘Kunfanya Maperzi (Making Love)’ which has a funky electric harpsichord riff and hand claps much to the fore. It’s a lively number and easy to see why an edited version was released as a single, although it did not chart. The album includes a number of covers, namely, Luther Ingram’s ‘If Loving You Is Wrong (I Don’t Want To Be Right)’, The Stylistics ‘Betcha By Golly Wow,’ Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway’s ‘Where Is The Love,’ and The Moody Blues’, ‘Nights In White Satin.’ None of the covers stray much from the original arrangement, and on ‘Nights,’ Ed Green’s violin takes the place of the lead vocals. Green’s other composition, ‘My Love For You,’ is a pleasant ballad with Lewis playing electric piano.
The trio has three compositions on this album. The swinging ‘What It Is’ could be the offspring of ‘Wade In The Water,’ while ‘Serene Funk’ is a bluesy number, with Lewis getting down and funky on Wurlitzer and Eaton adding electronic effects to his bass. It is, to use the parlance, a toe-tapper. The eight-minute ‘Dreams’ ought to be called ‘Nightmares’. It starts with a phalanx of weird, distorted electronic sounds – think of the soundtrack used in cinema to portray someone on a bad LSD trip and you’ll have some idea of what it sounds like. The track then alternates between dream-like sections and mid-tempo funk. Waring notes that Funky Serenity failed to make much impression in the pop or R&B charts, although it was a top ten jazz album. I was pleasantly surprised by this album and there is plenty of good music on it to make it well worth a listen.
The relative lack of success of Lewis’s first two albums for Columbia saw a radical shift in musical direction and the band going back to the future. The new album had one of the worst album titles of all time - Ramsey Lewis’s Newly Recorded, All-Time, Non-Stop, GOLDEN HITS – combined with one of the worst album covers. The band reverted back to a trio with Lewis playing acoustic piano or electric piano. The album includes cover versions of Lewis’s biggest hits – the revived ‘Hang On Sloopy’ is played at a slower tempo than the original, while ‘Wade In The Water’ sticks closely to the 1966 version. ‘The In Crowd’ is punchier than the original and includes some funky organ riffs. War’s ‘Slippin’ Into Darkness’ – a minor hit from Upendo Ni Pajoha, is the same version that appears on that album, with shimmering electric piano, a funk bass riff and handclaps. ‘Hi Heel Sneakers’ is dominated by the sound of a clavinet, and may well have been inspired by Stevie Wonder’s ‘Superstition.’ There’s also a spirited version of Bizet’s ‘Carmen,’ driven by an infectious acoustic bass vamp and rippling electric piano lines. The expression ‘never judge a book by its cover’ is most fitting when it comes to this album, because despite the silly title and cartoon cover, there is a lot of music to enjoy on the disc.
The next album, Solar Wind, used additional musicians, including guitarist Steve Cropper, from Booker T and the MGs, who also produced several tracks. Lewis also added synthesisers to his keyboard line-up, and occasionally used a second keyboardist on some tracks. The uptempo ‘Sweet and Tender You’ – produced by Cropper- is evocative of the 60s trio sound, with a swinging rhythm and some superb playing by Lewis on acoustic piano. The band covers two Seals and Crofts songs, ‘Hummingbird’ and ‘Summer Breeze,’ (both feature James L. Hersen on Moog synthesiser), while the Lewis/Eaton composition ‘Jamaican Marketplace’ is a pleasant 7-minute mid-tempo jazz-funk tune.
The Caribbean feel is retained with the band’s lively cover of Sonny Rollins’ ‘The Everywhere Calypso.’ Other covers include a jazzy version of Paul Simon’s ‘Love’s Me Like A Rock,’ and a radical reworking of Elton John’s ballad ‘Come Down In Time,’ which includes an Eaton solo and some weird electronic sound effects mid-way through the track. . The closing track - another Cropper production – ‘Love For A Day,’ is another funky workout with Lewis on acoustic piano and Cropper’s wah-wah laced guitar riffs. Solar Wind in the words of Waring, ‘sank without a trace,’ which is a shame, as this album deserves a wider hearing.
They say that timing is everything and that is certainly the case with the fourth and final album on this collection, Sun Goddess. In 1974, Lewis was in Chicago recording his next album, when he heard from Maurice White, leader of the soul/funk band Earth, Wind & Fire. White had joined Lewis’s trio in 1966, playing on several albums including, Wade In The Water. Three years later, White left the trio to form the band that eventually became Earth, Wind & Fire.
Speaking to Charles Waring, Lewis recalled how he received a call in the studio from an excited White, who was in New York. He claimed that he had a new song for Lewis that was going to be “Bigger than ‘The In Crowd.’” Lewis wasn’t convinced, but agreed that White could come to Chicago with the song. When White arrived, he was joined by several other members of Earth, Wind & Fire, and they recorded the White’s tune, ‘Hot Dawgit.’ Lewis says that just White and his band members were about to pack up and leave, White remembered another tune he thought Lewis might want to record. The tune was ‘Sun Goddess.’
As a result, Sun Goddess is a hybrid album, with two Earth, Wind & Fire-produced tunes and five more produced by Lewis and Teo Macero. ‘Sun Goddess’ is the opening number, an eight-minute masterpiece; a mid-tempo Latin-Jazz number with a catchy guitar riff played by Earth, Wind & Fire’s Johnny Graham, a wordless chant sung by White and fellow lead vocalist Philip Bailey, with an extended solo by Lewis on electric piano, and a terrific tenor sax solo by Don Myrick, who would go onto become a member of Earth, Wind & Fire’s horn section, The Phenix Horns. The next track is a funky version of Stevie Wonder’s ‘Living For The City,’ performed as a trio with support from a string section. ‘Love Song’ sees the trio playing this mid-tempo number with guitarist Byron Gregory.
‘Jungle Strut’ is one of my favourites and takes Lewis’s sound close to fun and funk played by the late George Duke, with quirky vocals (provided percussionist Derf Reklaw Raheem), a heavy backbeat and an array of electronic keyboards. ‘Hot Dawgit’, the second Earth, Wind and Fire number, is a bluesy, mid-tempo number with wordless vocals. Quite why Maurice White thought it was a sure-fire hit is a mystery, because it’s pretty mediocre and quite forgettable. ‘Tambura’ has echoes of Herbie Hancock’s ‘Chameleon’ with a burbling synth bass line, wah-wah guitar and funky electronic piano. The album’s closer, ‘Gemini’ is a trio performance has a dramatic out-of-tempo intro before settling down into a straight-ahead number, with Eaton’s walking bass line; Jennings’ syncopated beats and Lewis’s swirling electric piano lines creating an enjoyable brew.
‘Hot Dawgit’ was released as a single in late 1974, barely managed to scrape into the Billboard Top 50 Pop chart and soon dropped out of public consciousness. Despite the single’s disappointing sales, the Sun Goddess album continued to sell well and Columbia soon learnt that it was the title track that was driving sales (the striking album cover probably helped too). As a result, in 1975, a single version was released (in fact, there were two single mixes – one with, and one without, a tenor sax solo). The single reached the Top 20 soul singles chart and 44 in the pop chart, while the album reached number one in both the soul and jazz charts, and number 12 in the pop chart. The album catapulted Lewis’s career, and the association with Earth, Wind & Fire – who became major international artists in 1975, following their number one pop album That’s The Way Of The World and number one pop single ‘Shining Star,’ – certainly helped drive sales. And as Lewis explained to Waring – he always plays ‘Sun Goddess’ in concert, but never ‘Hot Dawgit’…
Lewis would go onto tour with Earth, Wind & Fire, and the band would release their own version of ‘Sun Goddess,’ on the 1976 live album Gratitude (the sax solo however, was played by the band’s woodwind player Andrew Woolfolk, even though Myrick was in the Phenix Horns section). There is no doubt that Sun Goddess marked a turning point in Lewis’s fortunes and it’s to Columbia Record’s credit that they were content to wait years for that success to arrive. This is an excellent package and the Sun Goddess album alone would make it a worthwhile purchase.
Reviewed by George Cole
