On June 20th, in 2006, we lost a fusion jazz musician, soul jazz innovator, funk pioneer, guitarist and founding member of Kool & the Gang-Claydes Charles Smith (above-2nd r, inset-standing c). The Jersey City, New Jersey native comes from the Charlie Christian school of jazz guitarists. He was mostly influenced by Wes Montgomery who learned to play jazz guitar by listening to Charlie Christian records. Smith's licks have been sampled by Pete Rock, Q-Tip, Large Professor, the Beatnuts, Diamond D, Gang Starr, the Bomb Squad and Prince Paul. His father taught him the basics (early 60s). In 1964, he co-founded the Jazziacs with Robert “Kool” Bell, (bass), Dennis Thomas (sax), Robert Mickens (trumpet), Ricky West (keys), George Brown (drums) and Ronald Bell (keys). They developed a tight sound that was jazz based and funky.
They gigged around the Northeast and often backed musicians like Leon Thomas, McTyner (former pianist for John Coltrane) and Pharaoh Sanders. During the mid to late 60s, they changed their name three more times (Soul Town Band, New Dimensions, Kool & the Flames) before settling on Kool & the Gang (1969). They signed to De-Lite Records and released their self-titled debut in 1969. It’s an all instrumental jazz/funk LP that contains heavily sampled songs like: Chocolate Buttermilk, Kool’s Back Again and Raw Hamburger. They pretty much stuck to this format for the 9 LPs they released from 1972 to 1978. After this, the songs became more vocal, as they hired lead singer J.T. Taylor in 1979 for their Ladies’ Night LP. Smith (above-3rd l, inset-l) stayed with the band during the height of their commercial success in the 80s. He was 58 when he passed.
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On June 20th, in 1988, MCA Records made a very lucrative business move when they released two LPs on the same day: Bobby Brown’s-Don’t Be Cruel album and New Edition’s-Heart Break LP. It was no mystery that there was a ‘friendly rivalry’/bad blood between New Edition-who had recently replaced Bobby with Johnny Gill, and Bobby-who decided he wanted to be a solo artist a couple years prior (1986). Bobby’s album was produced by Teddy Riley, L.A. Reid & Babyface (for the most part). Teddy was at the height of his New Jack Swing sound and L.A. Reid & Babyface were just getting their footing in the production game: pre-L.A. Face Records. The title cut, Roni, My Preorgative, Rock Wit’cha and Every Little Step shot up the charts. It showed Bobby’s maturity as a singer/performer and assured the public that the success of his first release wasn’t a fluke.
New Edition had a lot of public pressrue on them as well. Their prior release-Under the Blue Moon (1986) came out the same year that Bobby went solo. It stood as the group’s first release without Bobby as a co-lead singer with Ralph Tresvant. To add, a lot of people expected New Edition to remain in the bubble gum R&B category that they’d used on their other albums. Heart Break was a far cry from the bubble gum stuff they’d become accustomed to. Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis produced the album. It contains hits like: N.E. Heart Break, Crucial, You’re Not My Kind of Girl, Can You Stand the Rain and If It Isn’t Love. Most of the members were in their late teens or right at 20. This album also showcased how much the young men had matured as musicians. After this release, Johnny Gill and Ralph Tresvant went solo, while Ronnie DeVo, Michael Bivins and Ricky Bell formed Bell Biv DeVoe (BBD). Both LPs are classic releases.
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On June 20th, in 1949, 70s/80s R&B musician, singer, pianist, actor, composer, tennis standout, saxophonist, arranger, balladeer, producer, songwriter and former member of the Commodores-Lionel (Brockman) Richie (Jr) was born in Tuskegee, Alabama. He learned to play piano and sax as a child. He also was a prolific tennis player, attaining a scholarship to play at Tuskegee Institute. He met his fellow Commodores band members while on campus in the late 60s. He was the songwriter, saxophonist and singer for the band. In 1968, they signed to Atlantic Records, and later Motown as a back up/supporting act for the Jackson 5. They released their debut LP in 1974-Machine Gun. They were more of a funk jam band that played largely instrumental music with sparse vocals like: The JBs, Kool & the Gang, L.T.D., The Ohio Players, Sun and Slave.
Lionel’s songwriting skills were sorely lacking on their initial release. He wrote 2 of the shortest songs on the 10 track LP-Superman (2:39) and There’s a Song in My Heart (2:38). Neither song charted. This limited writing trend continued on their second and third releases (1975). Their 4th LP-Hot on the Tracks (1976) was much different in that he wrote/co-wrote six of the 9 songs on the album. It's also the first album to give him a hit as a balladeer-Just to Be Close to You. Their 5th LP, and the one largely regarded as their best-Commodores (1977) showed Lionel’s abilities to compose funk/dance music and ballads-Brick House, Zoom, Easy. He started writing for others in the late 70s (Kenny Rogers-Lady, Diana Ross-Endless Love), before going solo in the early 80s. He enjoyed a successful career as a producer and solo artist. He’s 70 today.
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HONORABLE MENTION: On June 20th, in 1924, country musician, guitarist, pioneer of the Nashville Sound, violinist, songwriter, banjo player, singer, ukulele player and multi-label recording artist-Chet Atkins (Chester Burton Atkins) was born in Luttrell, TN. He’s most known for innovating the Nashville Sound. He also was a prolific guitarist that had a picking style of playing similar to Les Paul, Charlie Christian and Django Reinhardt. He’s ranked 21st on Rolling Stones magazine’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarist of All Time. He also produced several songs for musicians like: Dolly Parton, Waylon Jennings, Elvis Presley, Porter Wagoner, the Everly Brothers, Dottie West and Skeeter Davis. He was 77 when he passed.
On June 20th, in 1936, doo wop musician, songwriter, co-founder of GuyJim Records, comedian, producer, former member of Bip and Bop and lead singer of the Coasters-Billy Guy (Frank Phillips Jr) was born in Itasca, TX. Guy got his start as a singer in the comic vocal group Bip and Bop (1955). He joined the Coasters in the late 50s and started his own label in the late 60s. He also produced for others like J.R. Bailey and the Universal Messengers (spoken word troupe). He released a comedy LP in 1972-The Tramp is Funky (Snake Eyes/All Platinum Records). He was inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 (as a Coaster). He was 66 when he passed.
On June 20th, in 1960, new wave musician, pioneering 80s rock artist, vocalist, producer, bassist, actor, songwriter, guitarist, former member of Duran Duran and Power Station-(Nigel) John Taylor was born in Solihull, Warwickshire, UK. He’s a long-term member of Duran Duran that stayed with them from the beginning to end (1978-1987). He also doubled as a member of Power Station (1984-1985). In the mid 90s, he joined the Neurotic Outsiders. Taylor released several solo LPs and produced for others. In the early 2000s, Duran Duran reunited and Taylor worked with producer Timbaland on their 2004 release-Astronaut. He’s 59 today.
On June 20th, in 1995, the King of Pop-Michael Jackson released his 1995 ninth full-length LP-History: Past, Present, and Future, Book I. In collaboration with the epic release-MTV became MJTV for the day playing videos from Michael’s archives. It was the first release in 4 years, coming off the Dangerous LP in 1991. History features the duet with his sister-Janet Jackson-Scream. Other hits include: You Are Not Alone, They Don’t Care About Us and This Time Around featuring Biggie Smalls. The double LP also features songs from his past like Thriller, Remember the Time, Bad, Man in the Mirror and Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough. It’s a good blend of his past and current work.
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