![]() Members of the imprint’s venerable Funk Brothers session band got pink slips, and Marlene Barrow-Tate-a member of The Andantes, a band that sang backup on recordings by The Four Tops, The Supremes and countless other acts-told the Detroit Metro Times in 2013 that the singers picked up their final paychecks in January 1972. And perhaps because of the unrest, the label finalized its move from Detroit to Los Angeles in 1972. In the wake of the 1967 riots, Detroit was a murkier place than it had been back in 1959, when Motown was born. Even with the song’s liberal use of effects, the percussionist noted, “It’s a subtle, a very subtle sound. Hold On,” a statement-making cut laden with avant-echo and phasing famously sampled by hip-hop producer J Dilla on his 2005 album Donuts. But Dougans’ chops noticeably propel “My People. Even the producer, Frank Wilson, said, ‘We wanted to get away from that.’”Īt the time, The Young Senators only had issued a 7-inch single. They locked into that, and that’s the Motown Sound. “If you listen to any Motown records, they had a certain rhythm, a certain groove. “We took Motown away from the Motown Sound,” Young Senators percussionist Jimi Dougans, 74, said recently about the pivotal 1972 Kendricks album. And while Kendricks’ album wasn’t as sizeable a hit as Gaye’s, People managed to spawn a major single, the 7-minute workout “Girl You Need A Change Of Mind.” People was issued on Tamla in late spring 1972, about a year after Marvin Gaye’s opus, What’s Going On. It also marked a change for Motown Records (and its affiliate labels, Gordy and Tamla), the company Kendricks had released music through for more than a decade. ![]() ensemble’s contributions to People, though, would help move the singer into a new stage of his career. The Young Senators toured extensively with Kendricks during his early solo performances, despite not having played on his 1971 disc. Hold On, he enlisted a new raft of players to back him. The vocalist’s first solo effort, 1971’s aptly titled All By Myself, still hued toward classic Motown, so when Kendricks was set to record its follow-up, People. A smooth loop by producer LuvJonez off his album Mental Rental, a raw street track by M.O.P., Masta Ace’s “Brooklyn Battles” produced by Marley Marl, and a softer interpretation by Asher Roth titled “Charlie Chaplin” off his mixtape Pabst & Jazz, which is full of jazz inspiration and sampling.Eddie Kendricks (1939–1992) (Photo: DownBeat Archive)īy 1972, Eddie Kendricks, the Temptations singer who led the ensemble through classics like “Just My Imagination,” was ready for a new sound. The following four tracks stand out to us. First David Ruffin died of a cocaine overdose in 1991, followed by Melvin Franklin (brain seizure) and the death of 52-year-old Eddie Kendricks as a result of his struggle with lung cancer.īut his musical legacy lives on through his many soul/disco songs and by producers who immortalize his music by sampling his classic material. Sadly, the 1990s mark the premature deaths of three (former) members of The Temptations. Many Temptations fans questioned the wisdom of him leaving the group, but Kendricks proved to be viable as a solo act with singles as “Keep On Truckin'” (sampled by EPMD for their track “Underground”), “Boogie Down”, and “Intimate Friends”, which was sampled for tracks by the likes of Samon Kawamura, Common, Ill Al Skratch and KnowMads. The Temptations enjoyed major hits in the mid-to-late 60s, but Kendricks decided to leave the successful soul sensation to pursue a solo career in the early 70s. This week we highlight “If You Let Me” by soul legend Eddie Kendricks.Įddie Kendricks is mostly known for his leading work with The Temptations and as a signee of Motown Records. Our Grooves & Samples series is based on that: modern day hip hop tracks remind us about or introduce us to old jazz, funk and soul jams, dating back to days when most The Find writers weren’t even born yet. ![]() One of the many reasons why we love hip hop music, is that it functions as a musical time machine. Grooves & Samples is a weekly dive into old dusty crates of jazz, funk, soul and beyond.
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