Eddie Russ - 1978 - Take A Look At Yourself

Eddie Russ

1978

Take A Look At Yourself

01. Take A Look At Yourself (Before You Point Your Bad Finger At Me) 5:12
02. Don't Ask My Neighbors 4:33
03. Tea Leaves 6:00
04. Interlude 0:43
05. I Want To Be Somebody 4:17
06. Feelin' Fine 6:06
07. I Heard That 4:21
08. Lay Back 3:37

Alto Saxophone – George Benson, Kenny Garrett
Alto Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Wilton Machen
Baritone Saxophone – Doc Holiday, Tom (Beans) Bowles
Baritone Saxophone, Trombone – Ernest Rodgers
Bass – Greg Coles, Jim Kessler, Larry Rhodes
Clavinet, Piano, Percussion – Walter Corley
Congas, Bongos, Cowbell, Tambourine, Idiophone [Wood Blocks] – Gerry Paul
Congas, Cowbell, Percussion, Drums – Calvin (Super Funk) Welch
Drums – Ewell Jones
Guitar – Eddie (Motown) Willis, Ron English
Guitar, Arranged By [Rhythm] – R. C. Crawford
Piano, Synthesizer, – Eddie Russ
Tenor Saxophone – Sam Sanders, William Wiggins
Trombone – Don White, Eddie Gooch, Stu Sanders
Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Maurice Davis, Ron Jackson
Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Arranged By [Horns] – Marcus Belgrave
Vocals – Brandye, Jackie Holiday (tracks: A1, A2), Ken Peters, Renee Coles (tracks: B3)

Seriously funky fusion music from the late seventies.Russ was a talented keyboard player and he fully embraced the new sounds and possibilities of electronic keyboards.Here he plays electric piano,piano synthesisers and ARP's all to great effect.He also often uses several of these different machines in one song to create different sounding and feeling solos.The music is funky as hell and is heavily rhythm driven with a large band driving out tight backing.There is a mixture of instrumental and vocal tracks here.This is another record that owes a huge debt to the Headhunters set.A great LP then that has thankfully been reissued for a new generation to enjoy.

Take a Look at Yourself pushes Russ even closer to slick, satin-lined disco -- the grooves are more earthbound, but its bold, rich arrangements nevertheless pulsate with energy and imagination. Russ still favors the kind of epic-scale structures of jazz, but the radiant, multi-layered synthesizers and dancefloor rhythms clearly evoke contemporary soul, topped off by Jackie Holiday's soaring vocals on "Don't Ask My Neighbors" and "I Heard That." A solid listen,