Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd St. Rhythm Band

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  • That's got to be a still from 'It's a Bikini World'.

  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    Here's the line-up, from what I can gather, who were a part of Watts Band 2, aka "the guys who backed up Bill Cosby and recorded the first Watts Band album on Warner Bros":

    Charles Wright (guitar)
    James Carmichael (piano)
    Arthur Wright (bass)
    Pete Fox (on guitar)
    John "Streamline" Ewing - trompone
    Herman Riley (tenor sax)
    Jackie Kelso (tenor sax)
    Melvin Jernigan (tenor sax)
    Mel Brown (guitar)
    Abraham Mills (drums)
    Mel ??? (trumpet)


    Mills and Ewing also played with Wright in 1965 on a single he recorded (solo) for Phillips.

  • Here's the line-up, from what I can gather, who were a part of Watts Band 2, aka "the guys who backed up Bill Cosby and recorded the first Watts Band album on Warner Bros":

    Charles Wright (guitar)
    James Carmichael (piano)
    Arthur Wright (bass)
    Pete Fox (on guitar)
    John "Streamline" Ewing - trompone
    Herman Riley (tenor sax)
    Jackie Kelso (tenor sax)
    Melvin Jernigan (tenor sax)
    Mel Brown (guitar)
    Abraham Mills (drums)
    Mel ??? (trumpet)


    Mills and Ewing also played with Wright in 1965 on a single he recorded (solo) for Phillips.

    Is that the Mel Brown, that recorded for Impulse???

  • Here's the line-up, from what I can gather, who were a part of Watts Band 2, aka "the guys who backed up Bill Cosby and recorded the first Watts Band album on Warner Bros":

    Charles Wright (guitar)
    James Carmichael (piano)
    Arthur Wright (bass)
    Pete Fox (on guitar)
    John "Streamline" Ewing - trompone
    Herman Riley (tenor sax)
    Jackie Kelso (tenor sax)
    Melvin Jernigan (tenor sax)
    Mel Brown (guitar)
    Abraham Mills (drums)
    Mel ??? (trumpet)


    Mills and Ewing also played with Wright in 1965 on a single he recorded (solo) for Phillips.

    Is that the Mel Brown, that recorded for Impulse???

    I'm assuming it is, since Brown worked quite a few sessions back then.

    (There's an album by Roy Brown on Bluesway that has Charles Wright playing guitar on it...)

  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    For strutters only , a little sneak-peek:



    Liner notes excerpt.

    The original "Do Your Thing" + "Band Intros"

    Pickwick: PM me your address. I got a copy of this for you.

  • "it's not what you look like, when you're doing what you're doing...but what you're doing when you're doing, what you look like you're doing......express yourself"

    -Charles Wright

  • nzshadownzshadow 5,518 Posts
    ODub, this is fantastic.

    I cant wait to get my hands on this,Brilliant.

    Sidenote; At the Amsterdam Mingering Mike night, we got talking about Charles, We were both geeking hard on Charles when he said that his favorite track was 'Comment' Strutter Optimus Lime had the album and watching Mike sing along was definitely a highlight.

  • inVrsinVrs 687 Posts
    fantastic work!


  • akoako https://soundcloud.com/a-ko 3,413 Posts

  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    ODub, this is fantastic.

    I cant wait to get my hands on this,Brilliant.

    Sidenote; At the Amsterdam Mingering Mike night, we got talking about Charles, We were both geeking hard on Charles when he said that his favorite track was 'Comment' Strutter Optimus Lime had the album and watching Mike sing along was definitely a highlight.

    ODub, this is fantastic.

    I cant wait to get my hands on this,Brilliant.

    Sidenote; At the Amsterdam Mingering Mike night, we got talking about Charles, We were both geeking hard on Charles when he said that his favorite track was 'Comment' Strutter Optimus Lime had the album and watching Mike sing along was definitely a highlight.

    I should have added - these aren't cheap but Rhino UK reissued all of the Warner Bros. albums feat. either Wright or the Watts 103rd (basically, all the Watts albums + "Rhythm and Poetry" which was Wright's first, post-Watts solo project) and not only are they all remastered, but all include a slew of bonus material, including mono mixes, unreleased material, alt. versions and radio promo spots. It's perhaps more of a bonus for completionists, but nonetheless, I thought it was a proper way to go about reissuing the material.

    To me though, the real highlight is an alternate version of "Express Yourself" that appears on "Puckey Puckey" - the other Rhino Handmade comp that should be dropping around the same time as the "Haunted House" stuff. It's more languid, less insistent but lounges in the pocket something lovely. I've been playing it at my weekly gig and unlike the version most people know, it's less "top of the night" and more "winding down" and works beautifully in that zone.



  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts









    Speaking of the song...I love how it's been covered by so many non-American bands:
    Rabbits and Carrots (en espa??ol no less)
    The Exciters
    Byron Lee and the Dragonaires
    Leroy Sibbles

    Anyone I'm missing?

  • akoako https://soundcloud.com/a-ko 3,413 Posts
    damn. both versions are great.

  • johmbolayajohmbolaya 4,472 Posts
    not only are they all remastered, but all include a slew of bonus material, including mono mixes, unreleased material, alt. versions and radio promo spots. It's perhaps more of a bonus for completionists, but nonetheless, I thought it was a proper way to go about reissuing the material.

    Considering that Warner Bros. cared a lot about the radio spot, I hope that if you are involved with digging up any archival material, please consider putting more radio spots as bonus stuff. I have wanted to be a music or music project supervisor for years, and I would be one hunting down all of that, plus the preferred mono mixes, etc. When Rhino Records were somewhat slow in their output, Warner UK were coming up with some incredible compilations that put the then Rhino-output to shame.

    I have an idea for a comp that I think would do well, but I've been told by countless labels "we do not take outside A&R advice", and I want to say "hire me so I can be your inside A&R advisor".

  • SoulOnIceSoulOnIce 13,027 Posts

    Considering that Warner Bros. cared a lot about the radio spot, I hope that if you are involved with digging up any archival material, please consider putting more radio spots as bonus stuff.

    One of the cooler things about the iTunes era is being able to
    buy just the bonus tracks from CD's. As a radio spot junkie, I've
    been buying up radio spot MP3's from a lot of these discs off
    iTunes and Amazon. I got the Charles Wright ones, and an awesome
    Thirteenth Floor Elevators one from the "Bull of the Woods" disc.

  • nzshadownzshadow 5,518 Posts
    The postman just delivered both albums to my door.

    DO NOT SLEEP ON THESE.

    These two CDs are absofuckinglutly essential.




    Holy shit. This is gonna be a great week.
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