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Jeanette McGruder (born November 8, 1954[ citation needed ]) is a singer, comedian, sketch actress, and writer, who has performed with P-Funk, Brides Of Funkenstein, and Lynn Mabry and Dawn Silva. In 1979, she recorded with Silva and Sheila Horne on "Never Buy Texas From A Cowboy". McGruder changed her professional name to Satori Shakoor in mid-1980s and became a comedian and sketch actress on the Canadian show Thick and Thin .
McGruder was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1954, and began singing and studying the violin as a child. Taught by her stepmother, she sang in her junior high choir and joined a female trio called New Dawn, which performed at nightclubs and one Black Panthers rally. She became a professional violinist aged 15 as well as playing in her high school orchestra at Cass Technical High School. While still at school, Jeanette also played in various orchestras and bands in and around the city of Detroit, including The Electrifying Strings, a jazz string group with Earl Klugh (guitar), Cecil "Van" Cephus (keyboards), and Ralph Armstrong (bass). She played in studio sessions on recordings for local Detroit artists, and earned money for occasional performances at United Sound Studios for Motown Records.
In 1972, upon entering the music department of Michigan State University (MSU), McGruder opted against pursuing a career as a violinist, and instead majored in voice.[ citation needed ] In 1974, she performed "We Shall Overcome" at an event honoring Coretta Scott King.
In 1978, after four years of studying at MSU and two years of singing in local bands, McGruder moved to New York City and began auditioning for Broadway. Later that year, her friend Overton Loyd told her about an audition for the Brides of Funkenstein, a new group created by George Clinton. McGruder returned to Detroit and got a job as a backing singer for Parliament-Funkadelic, and the original Brides of Funkenstein, Dawn Silva and Lynn Mabry, whose album Funk the Walk (1978) was in the charts. Mabry left the group within a year, leaving Dawn Silva to record a second album alone. George Clinton brought McGruder and Sheila Horne into the foreground, and the Brides of Funkenstein became a three-piece group, recording their second album, Never Buy Texas From A Cowboy (1979), which was voted into Billboard's "Top 50 albums" of all time in 2002. One single from the album, "Didn't Mean To Fall in Love", won a rhythm and blues award in 1981 for "Best New Female Group".
The Brides of Funkenstein disbanded in 1981. McGruder became the lyricist and lead singer for a Detroit rock band called Cherubim, which recorded one album and played in Japan.
A dramatic and humorous monologue featuring McGruder, now known as Satori Shakoor, was released on The Moth on January 21, 2013. [1]
At the 13th Gemini Awards in 1998, she and her Thick and Thin castmates Ronnie Edwards, Kedar Brown and Kenny Robinson received an ensemble nomination for Best Performance in a Comedy Program or Series. [2]
Shakoor is the host of Detroit Performs: Live From Marygrove, which airs on Detroit Public Television.
In 1982, McGruder had a son, Noah Shakoor. In 2002, Noah and his wife, Fonda Hollowell, had a daughter.[ citation needed ]
Uncle Jam Wants You is a concept album by American funk rock band Funkadelic. It was released by Warner Bros. Records in 1979, and was later reissued on CD by Priority Records. It was produced by George Clinton under the alias Dr. Funkenstein. It is the first Funkadelic album since America Eats Its Young in 1972 not to sport a cover illustrated by Funkadelic artist Pedro Bell, though Bell did provide artwork for the album’s back cover and interior. Uncle Jam Wants You was the second Funkadelic album to be certified gold. The album peaked at No. 18 on the Billboard 200 and No. 2 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome is the sixth studio album by the American funk band Parliament, released in 1977.
Dawn Silva is an American funk vocalist of Epic Proportions.
Sheila Horne is an American singer.
Lynn Mabry is an American singer.
The Brides of Funkenstein were an American soul and funk girl band, originally composed of singers Dawn Silva and Lynn Mabry.
Jeanette Washington is a funk vocalist best known as a member of the band Parliament.
Gloryhallastoopid (Or Pin the Tale on the Funky) is the eighth album by the American funk band Parliament. It was their penultimate album on the Casablanca Records label, and is another concept album that tries to explain that Funk was responsible for the creation of the universe (see P Funk mythology). It reuses samples from previous albums, notably Mothership Connection and Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome.
"(Not Just) Knee Deep" is a song by the American funk band Funkadelic written by George Clinton. The song was released as a single for their album Uncle Jam Wants You (1979).
Jerome Eugene "Bigfoot" Brailey is an American drummer, best known for his work with P-Funk, which included the bands Parliament, Funkadelic, and numerous related projects. Brailey is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic.
Trombipulation is the ninth album by the funk band Parliament. It was released by Casablanca Records. It was the last album of original material produced by the group for 38 years, until Medicaid Fraud Dogg in 2018. Unlike previous Parliament albums, George Clinton did not serve as sole producer of the album, as other P-Funk figures assisted in producing individual tracks. Bassist Bootsy Collins emerged as the principal musician on this album, playing virtually all of the instruments on a number of tracks. The track "Let's Play House" was sampled by the hip-hop group Digital Underground for their single "The Humpty Dance".
Live: P-Funk Earth Tour is a live double album by Parliament that documents the band's 1977 P-Funk Earth Tour. The performances include songs from Parliament's albums through The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein as well as songs from the Funkadelic repertoire. The album is made up of portions of two performances from January 1977 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena and the Los Angeles Forum.
Funk or Walk is the debut album by the Brides of Funkenstein, released on Atlantic Records in September 1978. The album was produced by George Clinton with the exception of the album's first single "Disco To Go" which was written and produced by Clinton and Bootsy Collins. The Brides of Funkenstein consisted of Lynn Mabry and Dawn Silva, who were members of Sly and the Family Stone prior to joining P-Funk. Funk Or Walk earned Mabry and Silva a Record World Award for Best New Female Artists and Best New R&B Group in 1979. The song was originally performed live by Bootsy's Rubber Band. To this day, the P-Funk All Stars continue to play "Disco To Go" in their live concerts. The Brides of Funkenstein also toured and recorded with Parliament/Funkadelic around this same time.
Never Buy Texas from a Cowboy is the second album by the American female funk band Brides of Funkenstein, released on Atlantic Records in 1979. Morphing into a trio on the second album release, the vocalists consisted of Dawn Silva, Sheila Horne, and Jeanette McGruder. Horne and McGruder served as background vocalists on subsequent P-Funk concert tours.
Say Blow by Blow Backwards is the second and last album by Fred Wesley and the Horny Horns, featuring Maceo Parker. The album was released in August 1979 by Atlantic Records and was produced by George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, and Fred Wesley.
Live at the Howard Theatre is a live album by the P-Funk spin-off act, the Brides of Funkenstein. The album was recorded on November 1 and 2, 1978, at the Howard Theatre in Washington D.C. The album was released by P-Vine Records in Japan on October 25, 1994, Sequel Records in the UK, and AEM Records in the U.S. The album was produced by George Clinton for Black Dog Records and A Scoop of Poop productions.
Sweat Band is the 1980 debut album by the P-Funk spin off act the Sweat Band. The album was the first official release on the Uncle Jam Records label, formed by George Clinton and his business manager Archie Ivy, and distributed by CBS Records. The band was formed by P-Funk bassist Bootsy Collins after losing the rights to the name Rubber Band to a folk music group of the same name. The album features many of the same musicians and singers from Bootsy's Rubber Band. The album was released during the same week as Ultra Wave, Collins' fifth album for Warner Bros. Records.
Wynne Jammin' is a studio album by American singer Philippé Wynne, the former lead singer of the Spinners. It was the second album released on the Uncle Jam/CBS label, fronted by Parliament-Funkadelic leader George Clinton and his manager Archie Ivy. The album features many musicians from the P-Funk stable.
Testing Positive 4 the Funk is the fourth installment of the George Clinton Family Series collection. The album was released in 1993 by P-Vine Records in Japan, and then was released later in the same year by AEM Records in the United States and Sequel Records in the U.K. This collection is noted for the inclusion of tracks such as a re-recording of "Live Up " which was originally recorded by the soul quartet, The Fantastic Four. The track marked the debut of P-Funk vocalist Glenn Goins.
Live...Capitol Theatre 1978 is a three-CD live album by the American funk band Parliament-Funkadelic. The album was released in the UK in November 2017 by the RoxVox label. The CD features the band performing at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey, on November 6, 1978, during their "One Nation/Anti-Tour". The liner notes feature a transcription of a December 7, 1978 article about Parliament-Funkadelic from Jet magazine.