Back (Ohio Players album)

Last updated
Back
Back (Ohio Players album).jpg
Studio album by
Released1988
Genre Funk
Label Track Record Company
Producer Ohio Players
Ohio Players chronology
Graduation
(1984)
Back
(1988)
The Best of the Westbound Years
(1991)

Back is the final studio album by the American band Ohio Players, released in 1988. [1] [2] The first single was "Sweat". [3] It was Ohio Players' only album for Track Record Company. [4]

Contents

The band supported the album by headlining a SOS Racisme show during the New Music Seminar and with a North American tour. [5] [6] "Sweat" and "From Now On (Let's Play)" were minor chart successes. [7]

Production

The album was produced by Ohio Players; the band was made up of five members for the reunion. [8] Some of the tracks incorporated hip hop-influenced sounds. [9] Herbie Hancock contributed to the album, after Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner had guested on Perfect Machine . [10] [11] "I'm Madd!" is about the dangers of drunk driving. [12]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [13]
Los Angeles Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [14]

The Los Angeles Times wrote that "the OPs attempt to reconcile their greazy, yowl 'n' growl attack with the stacks of microchips that go into creating le funk moderne." [14] Spin determined that the band "sound as good as ever, sweet and nasty funk played just right." [10] The Christian Science Monitor called the album "a continuation and expansion of the jazzy powerhouse funk style that popularized the Ohio Players in the mid-1970s." [12] The New York Daily News praised the "live, groove-oriented sound." [15] The Washington Post deemed the sound "hypnotic rhythms geared to maximum danceability, fueled by the dual guitars of Chet Willis and Leroy 'Sugarfoot' Bonner." [16]

AllMusic concluded that, "while the Players deserve credit for trying something different and attempting to be relevant to the hip-hop/urban contemporary scene of the late 1980s, Back simply wasn't strong enough." [13]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Get 2 the Good Part" 
2."Sweat" 
3."From Now On (Let's Play)" 
4."Show Off" 
5."Just to Show My Love" 
6."I'm Madd!" 
7."Vibe Alive" 
8."Rock the House" 
9."Just a Minute" 
10."Reputation" 
11."Try" 

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Funk</span> 1960s music genre

Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the mid-20th century. It deemphasizes melody and chord progressions and focuses on a strong rhythmic groove of a bassline played by an electric bassist and a drum part played by a percussionist, often at slower tempos than other popular music. Funk typically consists of a complex percussive groove with rhythm instruments playing interlocking grooves that create a "hypnotic" and "danceable" feel. It uses the same richly colored extended chords found in bebop jazz, such as minor chords with added sevenths and elevenths, and dominant seventh chords with altered ninths and thirteenths.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Funkadelic</span> American rock band

Funkadelic was an American funk rock band formed in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1968 and active until 1982. As one of the two flagship groups of George Clinton's P-Funk collective, they helped pioneer the funk music culture of the 1970s. Funkadelic initially formed as a backing band for Clinton's vocal group the Parliaments, but eventually pursued a heavier, psychedelic rock-oriented sound in their own recordings. They released acclaimed albums such as Maggot Brain (1971) and One Nation Under a Groove (1978).

<i>Lets Take It to the Stage</i> 1975 studio album by Funkadelic

Let's Take It to the Stage is the seventh album by American funk rock band Funkadelic. It was released in April 1975 on Westbound Records. The album charted at number 102 on the Billboard 200 and number 14 on the R&B Albums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bootsy Collins</span> American bassist

William Earl "Bootsy" Collins is an American bass guitarist, singer-songwriter, and record producer.

Jazz rap is a fusion of jazz and hip hop music, as well as an alternative hip hop subgenre, that developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. AllMusic writes that the genre "was an attempt to fuse African-American music of the past with a newly dominant form of the present, paying tribute to and reinvigorating the former while expanding the horizons of the latter." The rhythm was rooted in hip hop over which were placed repetitive phrases of jazz instrumentation: trumpet, double bass, etc. Groups involved in the formation of jazz rap included A Tribe Called Quest, Digable Planets, De La Soul, Gang Starr, The Roots, Jungle Brothers, and Dream Warriors.

Rare groove is music that is very hard to source or relatively obscure. Rare groove is primarily associated with funk, R&B and jazz funk, but is also connected to subgenres including jazz rock, reggae, Latin jazz, soul, rock music, northern soul, and disco. Vinyl records that fall into this category generally have high re-sale prices. Rare groove records have been sought by not only collectors and lovers of this type of music, but also by hip hop artists and producers.

Gavin Christopher was an American R&B singer, songwriter, musician, and producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy Castor</span> American funk saxophonist (1940–2012)

James Walter Castor was an American funk, R&B and soul musician. He is credited with vocals, saxophone and composition. He is best known for songs such as "It's Just Begun", "The Bertha Butt Boogie", and his biggest hit single, the million-seller "Troglodyte ." Castor has been described as "one of the most sampled artists in music history" by the BBC.

<i>Skin Tight</i> (album) 1974 studio album by Ohio Players

Skin Tight is the fifth studio album by the Ohio Players, released in April 1974. It is their first album released through the Mercury label, and considered to be their commercial breakthrough.

<i>Honey</i> (Ohio Players album) 1975 studio album by Ohio Players

Honey is the seventh studio album by American band the Ohio Players. Released on August 16, 1975, by Mercury Records. It is generally regarded as a classic, the band's best album, and the last great full-length release of their dominant era in the mid-1970s.

<i>Contradiction</i> (album) 1976 studio album by Ohio Players

Contradiction is the eighth studio album by The Ohio Players, and the fourth album recorded for Mercury.

<i>Mr. Mean</i> (album) 1977 soundtrack album by Ohio Players

Mr. Mean is the 13th album by the Ohio Players, and the 7th album recorded for Mercury. It is the soundtrack to the eponymous 1977 film. The band's roster grew, this time from eight to nine members with the entrance of Robert "C.D." Jones on congas.

<i>Jass-Ay-Lay-Dee</i> 1978 studio album by Ohio Players

Jass-Ay-Lay-Dee is the eleventh studio album by the Ohio Players. It was the 8th and last album they would record for Mercury. The title is a unique spelling of the term "jazzy lady." Unlike their last two efforts, the group remained with the nine-man roster that they had with Mr. Mean.

<i>The Revival</i> (Tony! Toni! Toné! album) 1990 studio album by Tony! Toni! Toné!

The Revival is the second studio album by American R&B band Tony! Toni! Toné!, released on May 8, 1990, by Wing Records. It was produced and arranged primarily by the band, although they were assisted on a few songs by the production duo Foster & McElroy, who had produced their first album, Who? (1988). The band recorded at several studios in California with the assistance of the Synclavier, an early music workstation.

<i>Sons of Soul</i> 1993 studio album by Tony! Toni! Toné!

Sons of Soul is the third album by American R&B band Tony! Toni! Toné!, released on June 22, 1993, by Wing Records and Mercury Records. It follows the success of their 1990 album The Revival, which had extended their popularity beyond R&B audiences and into the mainstream.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ohio Players</span> American funk and R&B band

Ohio Players is an American funk band, most popular in the 1970s. They are best known for their songs "Fire" and "Love Rollercoaster", and for their erotic album covers that featured nude or nearly nude women. Many of the women were models featured in Playboy.

<i>Rhythm Killers</i> 1987 studio album by Sly and Robbie

Rhythm Killers is an album by Jamaican musical duo Sly and Robbie, released in May 1987 by Island Records. By the time of the album's recording, Sly and Robbie had transitioned away from their prolific work in the reggae genre. They spent the 1980s experimenting with electronic sounds and contemporary recording technology on international, cross-genre endeavors, which influenced their direction for Rhythm Killers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner</span> Musical artist

Leroy Roosevelt "Sugarfoot" Bonner was a musician, vocalist, and producer.

Retro soul, sometimes written as retro-soul, is a post-modern and contemporary popular music genre that emerged years after the golden era of soul music. In style of singing, arrangement and recording techniques, this music attempts to offer new music in the tradition of soul music from the United States from the 1950s to the 1970s. This differs from soul music, Contemporary R&B and neo soul as it is intentionally produced in a vintage recording sound and style years after the original era.

<i>Tragic Magic</i> 1997 studio album by Madder Rose

Tragic Magic, also stylized as tragicmagic, is an album by the American band Madder Rose, released in 1997. The band promoted the album by touring with Junior Cottonmouth.

References

  1. Bream, Jon (6 May 1988). "Quick Spins". Star Tribune. p. 25E.
  2. "Ohio Players Biography by Jason Ankeny". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  3. Gliatto, Tom (19 Apr 1988). "And funk-popsters...". USA Today. p. 1D.
  4. Goldmine Record Album Price Guide. Penguin Publishing Group. 2019. p. 483.
  5. Watrous, Peter (21 July 1988). "Sexy Soul and Gold Lame". The New York Times. p. C26.
  6. Nager, Larry (21 Jul 1988). "Re-Souled". The Cincinnati Post. p. 4B.
  7. "Ohio Players". Dayton Daily News. 11 May 1989. p. 6C.
  8. Holman, Rhonda (4 Nov 1988). "Ohio Players Back on Charts, Tour with 'Back'". The Wichita Eagle. p. 1B.
  9. Thompson, Dave (2001). Funk. Backbeat Books. p. 174.
  10. 1 2 Cullman, Brian (Aug 1988). "Spins". Spin. Vol. 4, no. 5. p. 76.
  11. "Ohio Players Stage Unlikely Comeback". St. Joseph News-Press. Los Angeles Daily News. 2 Sep 1988. p. 3D.
  12. 1 2 Duncan, Amy (15 Aug 1988). "Slimmed-down Ohio Players jazz/funk group is back - on Track". Arts. The Christian Science Monitor.
  13. 1 2 "Back Review by Alex Henderson". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  14. 1 2 Waller, Don (19 June 1988). "If they weren't exactly innovators on the '70s funk scene...". Calendar. Los Angeles Times. p. 60.
  15. Farber, Jim (29 May 1988). "Back from Obscurity". City Lights. Daily News. p. 24.
  16. Himes, Geoffrey (September 9, 1988). "Ohio Players: They're 'Back' ... in the Groove". The Washington Post.