Spirit of the Boogie

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Spirit of the Boogie
Spirit of the Boogie1975.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedAugust 1975
Recorded1975
Studio Mediasound, New York City, New York
Genre
Length42:33
Label De-Lite
Producer Kool & the Gang
Kool & the Gang chronology
Light of Worlds
(1974)
Spirit of the Boogie
(1975)
Love & Understanding
(1976)
Singles from Spirit of the Boogie
  1. "Spirit of the Boogie"
    Released: March 13, 1975
  2. "Caribbean Festival"
    Released: June 1975
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [1]
BBC (favourable) [2]
Spin (favourable) [3]

Spirit of the Boogie is the sixth studio album by Kool & the Gang, released in 1975. It can be seen as a follow-up to Wild and Peaceful (1973); the instrumental "Jungle Jazz" uses the same basic rhythm track heard in "Jungle Boogie", but lets the players improvise on their instruments (saxophone, trumpet and flute). References to earlier works can be noticed ("Ancestral Ceremony" contains the line: "making merry music...", which was the name of a song from their 1972 album, Good Times ). "Spirit of the Boogie" features Donald Boyce, who was rapping on "Jungle Boogie". Some African influence can be felt, and the band even play in a West-Indian style on "Caribbean Festival", another instrumental track, with once more much room for improvisation.

Contents

The LP cover mistakenly lists "Cosmic Energy" as track 4 instead of "Sunshine and Love". "Cosmic Energy" was actually released on the next album, Love & Understanding .

In one of the songs in the album, entitled "Jungle Jazz", the repetitive drum beat that is heard after the drum fill at the beginning has been sampled in over 50 songs, including "Don't Walk Away" by Jade and "Pump Up the Volume" by M/A/R/R/S; it can also be found as a sample in FL Studio's files.

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Spirit of the Boogie" Bayyan, Boyce, Kool & the Gang4:52
2."Ride the Rhythm"Bayyan, Kool & the Gang2:55
3."Jungle Jazz"Bayyan, Kool & the Gang4:43
4."Sunshine and Love"Bayyan, Kool & the Gang3:46
5."Ancestral Ceremony"Bayyan, Kool & the Gang3:39
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Mother Earth"Bayyan, Brown, Kool & the Gang5:38
2."Winter Sadness"Bayyan, Smith, Kool & the Gang5:04
3."Caribbean Festival"Bayyan, Kool & the Gang7:33

Personnel

Kool & the Gang
Additional personnel
Production

Charts

Chart (1975)Peak
position
US Top LPs & Tape 48
US Top Soul LPs [4] 5
US Top Jazz LPs [5] 18

Singles

YearSingleChart positions [6]
US US
R&B
1975"Spirit of the Boogie"351
"Caribbean Festival"556

References

  1. Hanson, Amy. "Kool & the Gang: Spirit of the Boogie > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  2. Easlea, Daryl (2012). "Kool & The Gang Spirit of the Boogie Review". bbc.co.uk. BBC.
  3. Green, Tony (November 2003). "Essential Funk". Vol. 19, no. 11. Spin. p. 62.{{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  4. "Kool & The Gang: Spirit of the Boogie (Top Soul Albums)". Billboard .
  5. "Billboard Best Selling Jazz LPs" (PDF). Billboard. November 8, 1975. p. 34.
  6. "Kool & The Gang > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles at AllMusic . Retrieved 23 June 2011.