GCS 2000

Last updated
GCS 2000
Graham Central Station 2000.jpg
Studio album by
Graham Central Station
ReleasedJuly 21, 1998
Genre R&B, soul, Funk
Length50:36
Label NPG
Producer Larry Graham
Prince
Graham Central Station chronology
Star Walk
(1979)		GCS 2000
(1998)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllmusicStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]

GCS 2000 is a studio album by funk group Graham Central Station released on July 21, 1998, on NPG Records. It was their first new album in America since 1979's Star Walk .

Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when African-American musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of soul music, jazz, and rhythm and blues (R&B). Funk de-emphasizes melody and chord progressions and focuses on a strong rhythmic groove of a bass line played by an electric bassist and a drum part played by a drummer. Like much of African-inspired music, funk typically consists of a complex groove with rhythm instruments playing interlocking grooves. Funk uses the same richly colored extended chords found in bebop jazz, such as minor chords with added sevenths and elevenths, or dominant seventh chords with altered ninths and thirteenths.

Graham Central Station

Graham Central Station is an American funk band named after founder Larry Graham. The name is a pun on New York City's Grand Central Terminal, often colloquially called Grand Central Station.

Star Walk

Star Walk is an application developed for iOS, Android, Amazon by Vito Technology presented in the mobile software market since 2001.

Contents

Background

Prince had greatly boosted the career of another funk artist, Chaka Khan, in 1984 with her platinum-selling album, I Feel for You . In 1998, he tried to revitalize her career with the album Come 2 My House . It was released the same day as GCS 2000 and peaked at #49 R&B. [2]

Prince (musician) American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, and filmmaker

Prince Rogers Nelson was an American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, actor and filmmaker. A prominent music figure of the 1980s, Prince was known for his eclectic work, flamboyant stage presence, extravagant fashion sense and use of makeup, and wide vocal range. A multi-instrumentalist, he was considered a guitar virtuoso and was also skilled at playing the drums, percussion, bass, keyboards, and synthesizer. Prince pioneered the Minneapolis sound, which is a subgenre of funk rock with elements of synth-pop and new wave, in the late 1970s.

Chaka Khan American singer-songwriter

Yvette Marie Stevens, better known by her stage name Chaka Khan, is an American singer, songwriter and musician. Her career has spanned nearly five decades, beginning in the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. Khan received public attention for her vocals and image. Known as the Queen of Funk, Khan was the first R&B artist to have a crossover hit featuring a rapper, with "I Feel for You" in 1984. Khan has won ten Grammys and has sold an estimated 70 million records worldwide.

<i>I Feel for You</i> (album) 1984 studio album by Chaka Khan

I Feel for You is the fifth solo studio album by American R&B/funk singer Chaka Khan, released on the Warner Bros. Records label in 1984.

Prince's attempt to salvage Graham Central Station's status, however, was not as successful, and neither the album nor its singles charted in the U.S. One of the chief issues, as noted by Greg Prato at allmusic, was that "Too much Prince and not enough Graham makes GCS 2000 sound like a Prince solo album with Graham guesting, instead of a triumphant return to form from this trailblazing funk bass great." [3] Another complaint was that the album, in contrast to prior Graham Central Station works, sounded much more like Prince's "studio perfection", whereas the group's prior works sounded "as if they were recorded entirely live".

A quick preview of the album reveals a departure from the slapping technique the band was known for. "Just B My Lady", "Don't Let 'Em Change You", "Groove On", "I Just Found Somebody to Love" and "Outro" (5 of the 12 tracks) all feature several characteristics reminiscent of P-funk's style.

Slapping (music) musical technique

Slapping and popping are ways to produce percussive sounds on a double bass or bass guitar by bouncing strings against the fretboard.

Track listing

All tracks were composed by Larry Graham alone, except for "Utopia", which Prince helped compose:

  1. "Intro"
  2. "GCS 2000"
  3. "Free" (with Chaka Khan and Prince )
  4. "U Move Me"
  5. "Just B My Lady"
  6. "Love 4 1another"
  7. "Don't Let 'Em Change U"
  8. "Utopia"
  9. "Groove On"
  10. "I Just Found Somebody 2 Love"
  11. "I'magettin'" (Instrumental)
  12. "Outro"

Personnel

Larry Graham American bass guitar player

Larry Graham Jr. is an American bass guitar player and singer, both with the psychedelic soul/funk band Sly and the Family Stone, and as the founder and frontman of Graham Central Station. He is credited with the invention of the slapping technique, which radically expanded the tonal palette of the bass, although he himself refers to the technique as "thumpin' and pluckin' ".

Cynthia Robinson was an American musician, best known for being the trumpeter and vocalist in Sly and the Family Stone. Her voice and presence were featured in the hit "Dance to the Music".

Gerald L. Martini is an American musician, best known for being the saxophonist for Sly and the Family Stone.

Production

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References

  1. ↑ Allmusic review
  2. ↑ Come 2 My House at Allmusic
  3. ↑ Allmusic Review
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