Charles Stepney
tiger_blurp
275 Posts
Cross pollinating from another board, as this has made for some really good listening this afternoon ...The Soul Arranger (Part 1) - Charles StepneyFrom a Marc Mac podcast: http://marc4hero.podomatic.com/
Comments
I know we had a thread about him years ago, but we should make this the "definitive" Stepney thread.
Tracklisting:
I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun - Rotary Connection
Memory Band - Minnie Riperton
Memory Band - Rotary Connection
Free and Easy - The Dells
Dancing Girl - Terry Calier
Black Gold - Phil Upchurch
Loveley Is Today - Eddie Harris
Cry Baby Cry - Ramsey Lewis
Love Has Fallen On Me - Rotary Connection
Les Fleur - Minnie Riperton
Summer Place - The Dells
Fair But So Uncool- EWF
Cause you love me baby - Denise Williams
Cant Hide Love - EWF
"I have always been moved by great orchestral accompaniments and the amazing arrangers of the 60's and 70's, sadly this art form is slowly receding throughout today???s Soul music. Although I also love the classical/pop arrangements of masters such as George Martin, Lalo Schifrin, Hal & Burt and the great reggae arrangements of Brian Rogers (arranged for Jamaican singer John Holt) throughout this series of podcasts I wanna focus on my fave soul arrangers cats like Charles Stepney, Richard Evans, Gene Page, Wade Marcus, Charles Chalmers, Quincy Jones and Jerry Peters. Kicking off with the genius of Charles Stepney.
A friend (Dez Parkes) once said to me???
A producer builds the house??? ???the foundation??? then calls in??? the arranger??? the electrician who fill the house with light and power."
More info:
http://www.wholecircleround.co.uk/discovision/spins/stepney1.htm
This is such a great song. I will be listening to this when I get home. No doubt.
I downloaded both last night and am waiting for the right time to ride them out.
Genius material.
I know this is a dumb question, but on a Mac how do I download/save this as an mp3? I need this in my life. I made a tape last week with almost the same track listing, but still, I need this...
And here's the Richard Evans mix:
http://marc4hero.podomatic.com/enclosure/2007-05-01T17_34_48-07_00.mp3
That Marc Mac podcast site doesn't function right in Safari. Open it in Firefox instead.
Excuse me for the serious serious late pass but that Terry Callier track is butter. Now I need some Terry Callier in my life.
After peeping out Charles Stepney's discog, cat was a serious genius.
Thanks for the tracks....listening on the desktop right now...
A week ago I picked up this compilation on Chess called Petal Pushers, which was a compilation of UK psych originally released on Pye Records in England. (Chess and Pye used to license each other's material.) There are these brief interludes between songs, and the first song on either side is Minnie Riperton parodying opera singing while Stepney backs her up on piano...
I've heard there is quite a bit of unreleased material from his home studio too, especially with Callier. Anyone know if there are plans for this?
You sure they were just interludes? I recall there being two tracks that sounded like a proto-Rotary outfit. Full tracks, I mean.
I've been listening to the Mizell Brothers Special from that podcast page for the past 3 weeks. Good stuff.
http://marc4hero.podomatic.com/enclosure/2006-12-20T14_49_12-08_00.mp3
Well, I've only listened to that joker once so far, but but I remember the UK tracks being rather distinct. 'Cause on some tracks, there's hardly any gaps between the interludes and the songs...you can obviously tell where those hard Chess drums end and the London freakbeat sets in.
On this fine Saturday evening, I pulled out the Stepney's and the bottle of Talisker 10, and sir, I can say I completely co-sign. Rotary Connection first couple and Minnies first are sublime.
Yo,
Let's not forget about:
-Thom Bell.
-Gamble & Huff.
-Leon Ware.
-Dave Van DePitte.
-Eugene Record.
-Willie Mitchell.
And yes, Charles Stepney (1931-1976) was and left earth far too prematurely. A truly gifted man!!!
Peace,
Big Stacks from Kakalak
Forgot I had this!
I want that! $48 on gemm. Is how hard is this to find outside of gemm?
This definitely doesn't turn up on a regular basis, I'd say.