I Am Obsessed with this Rotary Connection Tune

[Teasing the Korean]

It is called "Memory Band."

 

[sgcim]

They were a pretty trippy band. That's why they called her Minnie Tripperton.

[JSngry]

Charles Stepney will continue to be discovered as the giant he was!

They did that song again on Minnie's first solo album:

 

[Teasing the Korean]

24 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Charles Stepney will continue to be discovered as the giant he was!

They did that song again on Minnie's first solo album:

Had no idea, and also didn't know it had lyrics!  That is a very nice version, but the overall vibe and atmosphere on the original is hard to beat.

[sgcim]

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

Charles Stepney will continue to be discovered as the giant he was!

They did that song again on Minnie's first solo album:

 

Thank God he got that song away from her husband. CS made it a great song!

You can have the original TTK!

This one gives my brain a buzz whenever I hear it. There are a lot of names on it, but they don't say who arranged it. Do you two know if Stepney had anything to do with it. Everything is great, except that operatic interlude in the middle. Otherwise, Pop Perfection!

The great Henry Lewy was listed as one of the producer/engineers. He did both of Judee Sill's albums, and some of Joni's stuff. A legend.

Edited August 17, 2023 by sgcim

[Teasing the Korean]

9 minutes ago, sgcim said:

You can have the original TTK!

Thanks!  I'll take it, especially at these prices!

[JSngry]

Stepney, all the way. His style is unmistakeable. 

Rotary Connection was his project initially, and even sorta till the end. Minnie began to assert herself, as well she should have. But Stepney still channeled everything. 

As for this song, my hunch is that he wrote the song, and Rudolph had the lyrics. They're SO psychedelic... 

47 minutes ago, Teasing the Korean said:

Had no idea, and also didn't know it had lyrics!  That is a very nice version, but the overall vibe and atmosphere on the original is hard to beat.

Do yourself a favor anyway and check out the entire Come To My Garden album. Trust me. 

[Teasing the Korean]

10 minutes ago, JSngry said:

As for this song, my hunch is that he wrote the song, and Rudolph had the lyrics. They're SO psychedelic... 

Do yourself a favor anyway and check out the entire Come To My Garden album. Trust me. 

Oh, I know the album, but it has been ages.  My older brother is a big soul/R&B/funk guy, and I heard every major 70s soul/R&B/funk album at one time or another through him.  I don't think I have my own copy of it, though.

Edited August 17, 2023 by Teasing the Korean

[JSngry]

This one is only "major" in retrospect. Didn't do shit on the charts in real time, and forget about airplay. No way. Same thing with Rotary Connection. 

[Teasing the Korean]

1 minute ago, JSngry said:

This one is only "major" in retrospect. Didn't do shit on the charts in real time, and forget about airplay. No way. Same thing with Rotary Connection. 

Well, "major" to the degree that Perfect Angel was a big album, and Come to My Garden became readily available in the wake of its success. I guess a lot of copies were sitting in a warehouse someplace, and then they were able to move product. 

[JSngry]

It was a Chess product (Janus). All the latter-day copies that I saw in the stores looked and felt to be bootlegs... Covers a tad blurry, cheap cardboard stock, and vinyl...ugh.

Every now and then I would meet somebody who had an OG copy and they would know the real deal about Minnie, RC, and Stepney. But most others bought it expecting...not that. A lot of people thought it was just weird. 

[felser]

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

This one is only "major" in retrospect. Didn't do shit on the charts in real time, and forget about airplay. No way. Same thing with Rotary Connection. 

Amazingly enough, The RC's "Ruby Tuesday" got airplay for a few weeks in Cincinnati, and was jarring when it came on.

[JSngry]

It did here as well, but only after dark... 

[Chuck Nessa]

I was in and out of the Chess building a lot during the Rotary Connection time. It contained offices, rehearsal space, recording studio, pressing plant and warehouse. They stopped the record presses while the studio was in operation.

One of the engineers took me to see Marshall Chess's office - black leather walls!!

Minnie Ripperton filled in as receptionist sometimes.

The building was converted into condos a few years back.

[Teasing the Korean]

This track from the soundtrack to The Grasshopper, by the underrepresented-on-LP-and-CD Billy Goldenberg, has a "Memory Band" vibe.

 

On 8/17/2023 at 6:53 PM, JSngry said:

Do yourself a favor anyway and check out the entire Come To My Garden album. Trust me. 

The track "Les Fleur" has had a presence in recent decades. 

[sgcim]

4 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:

This track from the soundtrack to The Grasshopper, by the underrepresented-on-LP-and-CD Billy Goldenberg, has a "Memory Band" vibe.

 

The track "Les Fleur" has had a presence in recent decades. 

If I saw Goldenberg's name on the music credit for anything, a TV Movie, Movie theater movie, I'd watch the flick no matter how bad.

[Teasing the Korean]

10 hours ago, sgcim said:

If I saw Goldenberg's name on the music credit for anything, a TV Movie, Movie theater movie, I'd watch the flick no matter how bad.

Yep. And like Pat Williams, he is underrepresented on LP and CD.  

[sgcim]

6 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:

Yep. And like Pat Williams, he is underrepresented on LP and CD.  

Yeah, there were a bunch of guys that I'd watch terrible movies for, just to hear the score. I think they're all dead by now, I don't even bother to look for the composer credits anymore. I just assume it's going to be a bunch of synth crap.

[Teasing the Korean]

10 minutes ago, sgcim said:

Yeah, there were a bunch of guys that I'd watch terrible movies for, just to hear the score. I think they're all dead by now, I don't even bother to look for the composer credits anymore. I just assume it's going to be a bunch of synth crap.

You're generally correct, although every now and then, a decent composer accidentally gets a film scoring gig. 

[sgcim]

4 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:

You're generally correct, although every now and then, a decent composer accidentally gets a film scoring gig. 

And then he gets fired for writing something good.