Soul Strut 100: # 11 - RAMP - Come Into Knowledge

RAJ

I will slowly be unveiling the Top 100 Soul Strut Related Records as Voted by the Strutters Themselves.

# 11 - RAMP - Come Into Knowledge



The list so far:

# 100 - Jr. and His Soulettes - Psychodelic Sounds
# 99 - Sir Joe Quarterman & Free Soul
# 98 - Donny Hathaway - S/T (1971)
# 97 - Bernard Wright - ???Nard
# 96 - Tom Scott - Honeysuckle Breeze
# 95 - People Under the Stairs - Question in the Form of an Answer
# 94 - Harlem River Drive
# 93 - Black Moon - Enta Da Stage
# 92 - Marvin Gaye - Here, My Dear
# 91 - Muddy Waters - Electric Mud
# 90 - Les McCann - Layers
# 89 - Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland
# 88 - Leroy Hutson - Hutson (1975)
# 87 - ESG - S/T (1981)
# 86 - Can - Tago Mago
# 85 - Bohannon - Stop & Go
# 84 - WILLIAM DEVAUGHN - Be Thankful For What You Got
# 83 - Power of Zeus - The Gospel According to Zeus
# 82 - Gang Starr - Hard To Earn
# 81 - The J.B.???s - Doing It to Death
# 80 - Parliament - Osmium
# 79 - McNeal & Niles - Thrust
# 78 - The Lafayette Afro Rock Band - Malik
# 77 - Earth, Wind, and Fire (1971)
# 76 - Dr. Dre - The Chronic
# 75 - Black Sabbath (1970)
# 74 - Trap Door / An International Psychedelic Mystery Mix (2006)
# 73 - Bob James - One
# 72 - Matthew Larkin Cassell - Pieces
# 71 - The Beginning Of The End - Funky Nassau
# 70 - Big Bear - Doin??? Thangs
# 69 - Steely Dan - Aja
# 68 - Quasimoto - The Unseen
# 67 - Curtis Mayfield - Curtis/Live! (1971)
# 66 - Al Green - Im still in love with you
# 65 - The Beatnuts - Street Level
# 64 - Archie Whitewater - Archie Whitewater (1970)
# 63 - Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - Mecca & the Soul Brother
# 62 - Notorious B.I.G. - Ready to Die
# 61 - The J.B.???s - Food For Thought
# 60 - Don Blackman (1982)
# 59 - Niagara - (Tiddies)
# 58 - Can - Ege Bamyasi
# 57 - Whatnauts - On the Rocks
# 56 - The Mohawks - Champ
# 55 - McDonald and Giles (1971)
# 54 - Darondo - Let My People Go
# 53 - Dorothy Ashby - Afro Harping
# 52 - Beastie Boys - Paul???s Boutique
# 51 - Mulatu Astatke - Mulatu of Ethiopia
# 50 - Lyman Woodard Organization - Saturday Night Special
# 49 - Isaac Hayes - Hot Buttered Soul
# 48 - Lyn Collins - Think (About It)
# 47 - James Brown - In The Jungle Groove
# 46 - Bill Withers - Still Bill
# 45 - Stevie Wonder - Innervisions
# 44 - Silver Apples - S/T
# 43 - Mobb Deep - The Infamous
# 42 - Lyn Christopher (1973)
# 41 - Serge Gainsbourg - Histoire de Melody Nelson
# 40 - Gang Starr - Step in the Arena
# 39 - Diamond D - Stunts, Blunts, & Hip Hop
# 38 - Terry Callier - What Color is Love
# 37 - David Axelrod - Song of Innocence
# 36 - The Invaders - Spacing Out
# 35 - Leo Sayer - Endless Flight
# 34 - Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
# 33 - DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist - Brainfreeze (Mix)
# 32 - Michael Jackson - Thriller
# 31 - DJ Shadow - Endtroducing
# 30 - De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising
# 29 - Ray Barretto - Acid
# 28 - The Sylvers - II
# 27 - Donald Byrd - Places and Spaces
# 26 - Shuggie Otis - Inspiration Information
# 25 - Nas - Illmatic
# 24 - The Baby Huey Story - The Living Legend
# 23 - Roy Ayers - He???s Coming
# 22 - Kool and the Gang (album) (1969)
# 21 - Demon Fuzz - Afreaka!
# 20 - Curtis Mayfield - Curtis!
#19 - Eugene McDaniels - Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse
# 18 - Incredible Bongo Band - Bongo Rock
# 17 - Placebo - Ball of Eyes
# 16 - Arthur Verocai - Arthur Verocai (1972)
# 15 - A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
# 14 - S.O.U.L. - What Is It
# 13 - Funkadelic - Maggot Brain
# 12 - Boscoe


Please discuss your reactions to this record. The thread will be archived later here.

About

RAMP was an American soul/jazz band from Cincinnati, Ohio.[1] RAMP has mistakenly been said to stand for "Roy Ayers Music Production" and "Roy Ayers Music Project", but Ayers was not a member, though he did write and produce songs on their debut album.[2]
The group released one album, Come Into Knowledge (1977), which is now considered a classic among rare groove collectors, artists (such as PM Dawn and A Tribe Called Quest who have used RAMP samples in their music) and Roy Ayers fans. Featuring the vocals of Sharon Matthews and Sibel Thrasher, the album was recorded in New York and California. The group were a vehicle for the songwriting talents of Roy Ayers and Edwin Birdsong. Released in 1977, the set featured a version of Roy Ayers' "Everybody Loves The Sunshine" along with the 'rare groove' track "Daylight". The 12" vinyl release of the album used to (and still does) command very high prices as the album had originally never been released on any other format. The album was eventually re-released on CD in 2007.

The group split up shortly afterwards, but reformed in 2006 for new tours and recordings. RAMP performed June 30, 2007, with Washington, DC, jazz pianist Will Rast at Central Park SummerStage in New York City.

In 2008, the song "Daylight" was featured on Grand Theft Auto IV's fictional Soul/R&B radio station The Vibe 98.8.

Media

LaserWolf

I like.

bassie

finally, a sensible standing on the list.

Guzzo

after looking for nearly a decade I finally got a copy of this through trade....GOD DAMN THIS IS A GOOD LP.

the only bad thing about it is that there is no follow up album

batmon

bassie said:

finally, a sensible standing on the list.

Important album

stratasphere

Love the title track, found 2 copies at the same spot in 2002.

walter_chron

I feel like if waxidermy did a top 100, this would be one the few albums likely to rank in a similar spot on both lists.

I have great memories of bumping this album with some freinds, windows down, just entering the Vegas strip after a nice roadtrip up. good times.

RAMP!

GamleOle

Here in Denmark, this album is much more common than any Roy Ayers LP. I have found several copies of RAMP, but Roy Ayers' own LPs are pretty hard to come by. I used to think that it only had a couple of good tracks (like "Daylight" and Everybody Loves the Sunshine") back in the day when I was young and naive, but luckily that changed. It's a really solid album. Besides from the tunes that have already been mentioned, I am also very much into:

"Look Into the Sky"


"Come Into Knowledge"

bassie

Yea, Look into the Sky gets the most play these days.

Jonny_Paycheck

Love this album. One of the ones that's worth the WOF95 hype.

Even Jaden Smith can flip this schitt.

RAMP

LoopDreams

Roy Ayers for Life!

Okem

This was one of the first lps that got me into digging for 70s jazz/funk/soul.

tabira

an album that fully deserves it's high ranking due to it's immense influence on hip hop and production in general but I rarely come back to it especially when compared to other Roy Ayers stuff

Yemsky

Did anyone mention: Cover Art?!?!?

LokoOne

on all the above.

Also wanted to say one reason I really love this album is I was able to introduce my partners young kids to it and I watched them fall in love with it too.... Nothing beats driving around with the family on a nice Aussie summer day with everyone singing along.

tripledouble

so, what does RAMP mean if its not Roy Ayers Music Project/people

DJ_Enki

tripledouble said:

so, what does RAMP mean if its not Roy Ayers Music Project/people

Records And Mincemeat Pies

OK, but seriously, this album is frickin' great, and definitely one that made the transition from "hey, this has samples on it!" (the Timmy Digalot days) to "hey, this album is really great to listen to!"

kala

thanks age

Jimster

tripledouble said:

so, what does RAMP mean if its not Roy Ayers Music Project/people

It means Ramp?

toby.d

Bandleader and drummer John Manuel states: "The name actually refers to taking you on a journey, elevation, as in an on or up ramp, an access to another place as in highway ramps. It, contrary to some belief, does not mean Roy Ayers Music Production, though that fits the acronym."

skel

toby.d said:

Bandleader and drummer John Manuel states: "The name actually refers to taking you on a journey, elevation, as in an on or up ramp, an access to another place as in highway ramps. It, contrary to some belief, does not mean Roy Ayers Music Production, though that fits the acronym."

GTFOOH

No-one calls a band 'RAMP'.

Except, uh, RAMP

::

doisn

such a classic record from start to finish, every track??s a winner, it changes but right now american promise may be my most favorite.

b/w

so if the Name is already confusing, what is this thing the sleeve shows on front?