Wynd Chymes - 1982 - Arrival

Wynd Chymes

1982

Arrival

01. Arrival 0:26

02. Stylin', Smilin' And Profilin' 3:48

03. Checkin' Out Your Stuff 4:24

04. Love Has Come Again 5:01

05. Body Rap 4:09

06. Do It (Fun In The Sun) 4:46

07. Sending My Love 3:52

08. Girl It's Alright 2:59

09. Ain't It Good 4:36

10. Alakazam 3:57

Acoustic Guitar – Emanuel N. Godfrey, Kénee Morris

Alto Saxophone – Michael Bartley

Art Direction – Ron Kellum

Backing Vocals – Emanuel N. Godfrey*, Forrest Gordon, Jimmy Graham, John Alford, Kénee Morris, Michael Bethea

Bass Guitar – Kénee Morris

Bells – John Alford

Bongos – Forrest Gordon

Clavinet – John Alford

Congas – Forrest Gordon

Drums – Forrest Gordon, Jimmy Graham 

Flugelhorn – Henry Clay Rogers, Jr.

Flute – Henry Clay Rogers, Jr., Michael Bartley, Morris G. Henderson

Grand Piano [Upright Grand Piano] – John Alford

Lead Guitar – Emanuel N. Godfrey

Lead Vocals – Forrest Gordon, Jimmy Graham, Michael Bethea

Percussion – Jimmy Graham, Kénee Morris, Michael Bethea

Percussion – Forrest Gordon

Piano – John Alford

Rhythm Guitar – Emanuel N. Godfrey

Soprano Saxophone – Michael Bartley

Fender Rhodes, Mini-Moog, Prophet-5, Jupiter, Arp Omni II – John Alford

Jupiter 8 Programming – Charlie L. Singleton

Jupiter 8 – Kénee Morris

Mini-Moog, Jupiter 8 – Michael Bethea

Prophet 5 Programming – Anthony A. Lockett

Tenor Saxophone – Michael Bartley

Timbales – Forrest Gordon

Timpani – John Alford (2)

Trombone – Morris G. Henderson*

Trumpet – Henry Clay Rogers, Jr.*

Tuba – Michael Bethea

Thanks to: Ray Harris, Hilda Williams, Robert Wright, Tony Wells, Phil Ransom, Jackson State University, Wynd Chymes Fan Club, "W.G." Garrison, Dick Griffey, Harold Haughton, Kinsha Management, Mr. Anami, Eddie Tillman, Frederick Knight, Wynd Chymes Road Crew, Lee King, Joe Shamwell, Julian Davis, Gloria Hunter, Bobby Lovelase, Terry Rosner, Tom Wright and all the musicians, who were dynam

Special thanks to the Almighty Creator and our parents and wives.

In the early 1980s, while the big coastal cities were busy inventing the next wave of post-disco and electro-funk, a group of sharp young musicians from Jackson, Mississippi, were quietly perfecting their own brand of Southern-fried boogie. Wynd Chymes started life in 1973 as classmates in the Jackson State University marching band, originally calling themselves The Family because of the brotherly bond they shared. Looking for a name with a little more mystique, they eventually settled on Wynd Chymes and spent the better part of a decade honing their sound on the local circuit. By 1981 they had cut a now-legendary independent 45 that still makes modern-soul collectors weak in the knees. The following year RCA Records came calling, and the result was their debut album, Arrival, a confident, groove-saturated statement that still sounds like it arrived fully formed.

The band’s influences were pure funk of the late-seventies variety—Cameo’s tight rhythmic attack, the elastic slap of Larry Graham, the horn-driven energy of early Parliament-Funkadelic—but filtered through a distinctly Southern sensibility that favored warmth over flash. RCA wisely paired them with producer Anthony Lockett, the gifted guitarist and songwriter who had already made his mark inside Cameo. Lockett not only produced the album but contributed several of its strongest compositions and even played guitar on a couple of cuts. The core group included lead vocalist Michael Bethea, guitarist Emanuel Godfrey, bassist Kenneth Morris, keyboardist John Alford, saxophonist Michael Bartley, drummer Jimmy Graham, trombonist Morris Henderson, trumpeter Henry Clay Rogers, and percussionist Forrest Gordon, with additional help from background vocalists Fredi Grace and Sheila Weaver and synthesizer work from Charles Singleton and Joe Shamwell. Sessions took place at Cheshire Sound Studios (with some sources also citing Malaco’s Jackson facilities), and the finished product was mastered at Masterfonics. The result is a bright, punchy, and beautifully balanced sound that sits right in the sweet spot between late-period funk and early boogie.

The album opens with a brief spoken-word “Arrival” that feels like a curtain rising, then launches straight into the infectious “Stylin’, Smilin’ And Profilin’,” a strutting anthem of self-assurance that still gets dance floors moving decades later. “Checkin’ Out Your Stuff” keeps the energy high with Lockett’s Jupiter-8 synth flourishes and a playful lyric that never tips into novelty. The mood softens for the smooth, heartfelt “Love Has Come Again,” then shifts into the album’s best-known track, “Body Rap,” a clever, lightly rapped funk number that manages to sound both of its time and ahead of it. Side two continues the balance: the sunny “Do It (Fun In The Sun),” the tender ballad “Sending My Love,” the concise and charming “Girl It’s Alright,” the mid-tempo groove of “Ain’t It Good,” and the closing jam “Alakazam,” which lets the band stretch out and simply play. Throughout, Lockett’s production keeps the arrangements tight and the rhythms locked, while the group’s collective chemistry ensures nothing feels like a studio concoction.

The artwork is pure early-eighties RCA polish. Art direction by Ron Kellum presents the band in a clean, stylish layout that suggests arrival in more ways than one—confident faces, sharp clothes, and a sense that these guys knew exactly how good the music inside was. It looks like the kind of sleeve that would have stood out on a record-store wall without needing gimmicks.

Commercially Arrival never became a major hit. RCA was a big label, but the group remained a regional favorite rather than a national crossover act, and the album slipped between the cracks of the shifting early-eighties R&B landscape. Critical attention at the time was limited, yet the record found a devoted following among funk and modern-soul collectors who recognized its consistent quality track after track. Over the years its reputation has only grown. “Body Rap” and “Stylin’, Smilin’ And Profilin’” became diggers’ favorites, the album received a well-received CD reissue in 2010 on PTG Records, and a limited blue-vinyl edition appeared in 2024. What was once a solid major-label debut that failed to set the charts on fire has become a quietly essential document of Southern funk at its most assured. Wynd Chymes never quite became stars, but on Arrival they sounded like they already were—polished, playful, and completely in control of a sound that still feels like a discovery every time the needle drops.