The Politicians Featuring McKinley Jackson - 1972 - The Politicians Featuring McKinley Jackson

The Politicians Featuring McKinley Jackson 

1972 

The Politicians Featuring McKinley Jackson

01. Psycha-Soula-Funkadelic

02. The World We Live In

03. Church

04. Free Your Mind

05. Everything Good Is Bad

06. A Song For You

07. Speak On It

08. Funky Toes

09. Politicians Theme

10. Close Your Big Mouth

Bass, Saxophone – "Peanut" Roderick Chandler

Drums, Percussion – Z. Slater

Organ, Trumpet – "Clay" Clarence Robinson

Piano, Saxophone – Melvin Griffin

For some reason this album remains a very rare and underrated gem of early 1970s soul and funk music. The Politicians and McKinley Jackson were on the Hot Wax/Invictus label started by the Holland brothers and Lamont Dozier after they left Motown. Some artists on that label, such as the Chairman of the Board and Honey Cone, had big hits, but for some odd reason the Politicians weren't as lucky.

But that lack of hits or fame doesn't distract from the quality of the songs on here, including some incredibly cool instrumentals, some of which has subsequently been sampled by other artists in recent years. Listen to tracks like "Psycha-Soula-Funkadelic", or "Free Your Mind" and you might even recognize the groove. Some truly classic stuff on this album. I had heard a few tracks by this band on other various artist collections, so when I found an affordable copy of this Japanese import I didn't hesitate to order it. Well worth the money. If you are a fan of the classic early '70s funk and soul sound, you NEED this album!

Originally known as The Peps which quickly morphed into The Politicians, the original line-up featured McKinley Jackson, along with Chuck Boyd, Stanley Cleveland, Melvin Griffin, Charlie Hearndon, Zac Slater and lead singer Danny Wood. The group attracted local attention as the house band at Detroit's Legendary 20 Grant Motel. By 1972 they were known as McKinley Jackson and the Politicians, with a line-up showcasing bassist Roderick Chandler, keyboardists Melvin Griffin and Clay Clarence Robinson and drummer Zac Slater.

I'm guessing their partnership with Hot Wax records was a result of Jackson's long standing relationship with Motown's Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland. After all, Jackson was a longstanding member of Motown's sessions band, playing trombone on dozens (if not hundreds) of Holland-Dozier-Holland recording sessions for the label. That would certainly explain how Jackson and company ended up releasing one of the first album's on the trio's post-Motown Hot Wax imprint.

Musically the album featured a collection of ten largely-original instrumentals ranging from hardcore funk ('Psycha-Soula-Funkadelic' and 'Funky Toes'), to a radio friendly ballad ('A Song for You'). Technically these guys were pretty amazing, easily measuring up top Motown's Funk brothers, Hi Records' Hodges Brothers, or The Memphis Horns. Unfortunately, the absence of a singer clearly limited their audience. Still, it's one of the better releases on the Invictus/Hot Wax roster.

Neither the album, nor the singles sold well (the cover showing a seemingly pissed-off Jackson probably didn't help), but Jackson and the band essentially took over the role as Invictus/Hot Wax house band, playing on pretty much everything those labels released over the next couple of years. Jackson then followed Dozier to the West Coast where he worked as an arranger on a slew of mid and late-'70s projects including Popcorn Wylie's "ESP album.

Trombonist McKinley Jackson began his career as a studio session player for the Motown defectors Lamont Dozier and the Holland Brothers. He would then go on to lead the ‘house’ band giving support for a slew of artists who recorded under the Invictus/Hot Wax label.

In 1970, under the name The Politicians, Jackson would lead the recording sessions that would become their sole eponymous as a band. The result is this well crafted Soul/Funk mostly instrumental album that demonstrates the bands absolute dedication to tight grooves and well written tunes. There are some super catchy riffs and hooks in these tunes..’Free Your Mind’ comes to mind as well as their awesome version of ‘Everything Good is Bad’, originally made famous by the 100 Proof Soul band which McKinley assisted them with only a year or two earlier.

‘Speak on It’ and ‘Funky Toes’ are also stand outs with their dexterous Funky rhythms and super slick grooves which immediately grab the attention of the listener on the second side.

Unfortunately for the Politicians, this album remained relatively unknown and didn’t really have any commercial success (possibly due to the lack of a vocalist /lyrics) but nonetheless, modern reissues have placed it under the noses of funk collectors world wide and there has been a resurgence of interest in this sublime and masterful Soul/Funk album. Highly recommended.