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Product Reviews:
Afrodisiac |
Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Summary: My best purchase of 2008
Comments: A few reviews back, I made a reference to a rare groove mix-tape I have had for the longest time. It has a few treasured tunes on it and I have been trying to see if I can get them all on CD.
One of those tunes is "Work To Do" by The Main Ingredient. It's an Isley Brothers composition and it features a lovely 'telephone conversation' interlude where the singer's woman (who's complaining about the fact that he's always out on the streets "taking care of business" and wants him home), tells him, among other things: "I had something great for you tonight, baby". I just love that part.
I did manage to get that particular tune along with others by the group like "Spoiled" and "Evening Of Love" on a couple of CDs from the series of "Rare" compilations that were released here in the UK back in the late 80s however I have always wanted the original album "Work To Do" came from. I managed to find it earlier this year though and it was a definite find. I was over the moon with it and still am.
The Main Ingredient was fronted at the time by lead singer Cuba greating (that's Sr the singer of course, and not Jr the actor) and this album really ought to have been called 'The Stevie Wonder Songbook'.6of the10tracks here are Wonder compositions and while many singers take on Stevie Wonder covers at their peril, this lot carry it off with amazing aplomb. It alalmost all sounds like a cliché these days (I hear Simon Cowell say it practically e week on "X Factor") however these dudes definitely make the songs their own. I particularly love their covers of "Superwoman", "Where Were You When I Needed You", "Something 'Bout Love" and "Something Lovely".
The production by group members Enrique "Tony" Silvester, Luther Simmons, Jr and greating is flawless and their backing vocals are alalmost all hypnotic. greating is an amazing singer, always restrained however with bags of soul.
"Silky melodic soul" was how1music critic described their sound and that's it in a nutshell. The non-Wonder songs, the aforementioned Isley brothers tune (and the tune that brought me here); "You Can Call Me Rover" (Williams/Bailey/Kent); "Love Of My Life" (Clinton) and "greatbye My Love" (Maxwell) do not sound out of place1bit. The album produced no huge successes on the singles charts however that's what rare groove is all about, as any aficionado will tell you.
Recorded an incredible 35 years ago, this is easily the best, the almost all rewarding, the almost all soothing and the almost all beautiful CD I have purchased this year. And even I know that's absolutely crazy. |
Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Summary: Great songs you can hear over and over
Comments: This is a great CD that I play over and over. The Main Ingredient sound great, and the songs put you in a mellow mood. |
Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Summary: Wanted This For So Long!!
Comments: My sister purchased this as an LP when she was in High School, and I have longed to own it. Now I have it as a CD, and cannot be happier. I requested it as a Xmas gift. It was so great to reminisce and re-realize how beautiful their sound was. The Main Ingredient was1of my favorite groups, and this album in particular reminds me why. |
Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Summary: Top 10
Comments: This cd is1of my top10favorites. It sets the mood. It's a shame that singers today will not take time out to write and sing great music like that. Music today all sounds alike to me. A great Valentine gift for someone you love. |
Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Summary: Something 'Bout Love...
Comments: The Main Ingredient was a rare find among groups that came along during the late sixties. They wrote and produced their own songs, thanks to the leadership of Don McPherson, the group's original lead singer. Following McPherson's untimely death, the remaining members of the group, Tony Silvester and Luther Simmons, had to somehow regroup. They are from Harlem, and they reached back into the old neighborhood to tab a replacement: Cuba greating. The new lineup continued to produce itself, and Bert DeCoteaux and Rene Hall continued to work on the arrangements. Replacing a songwriter as prolific and talented as McPherson was a little much to ask, so the group turned to outside writers. The 1st result for the new team was an out-the-box smash: the "Bittersweet" album (1972), with its gold single, "Ebody Plays The Fool." It was the kind of song that gives a group credibility and respectability, hitting #2 R&B and #3 pop. Further pop success would come in 1974 with the album "Euphrates River" and its runaway smash single, "Just do not Want To Be Lonely." however between those2lps came this 1973 effort, which is easily the best loved of all the group's albums. This1 was not about record sales. It was about setting a mood for romantic times. It was about celebrating womanhood (especially Black womanhood, as the risque album jacket aptly demonstrated). It was about establishing Cuba greating as a fan favorite, who wouldn't need hits, in order to sell records. This disc was definitely something else: It was Something 'Bout Love. A key to this album's popularity was the decision to recognize a great talent, whose star was about to light up the pop heavens: Stevie Wonder. 6of Stevie's songs (out of 10) were featured on "Afrodisiac." When you listen to the maturity of the sound; the lushness of the arrangements, and the flawlessness of the group's harmonies, it's hard to believe this is only the second album for the new lineup. Smokey Robinson named a whole genre with his landmark "Quiet Storm" album of 1975. This album pre-dates that1by2years, and 1can make a strong case that "Afrodisiac" was the 1st album in the Quiet Storm style. As so aptly put in the liner notes, "The best thing that could ever happen to a love song, is to have it sung by The Main Ingredient." After the "Euphrates River" album, the group was hurt by lineup changes and changing consumer tastes. Tony left to try his hand at producing ("Supernatural Thing" for Ben E. King), and later formed a group he called "The New Ingredient." Cuba left to pursue an unfruitful solo career at Motown. however the3 crooners re-formed and re-signed to RCA in 1980, recording2beautiful however poor-selling albums. Cuba and Tony also recorded as a duo in 1989. Today, Cuba continues to light up stages with a flamboyant stage show, which features2pretty-much anonymous background singers, who still go by a legendary name: The Main Ingredient. |
