A P (03) Grooves

Hello, a quick word from me, been busy so for tonight another groover from the early seventies, original vinyl, bought a best off cd By Jimmy Castor but that felt a bit of a let down a they were all re-recordings..i wonder what RCA has done with the masters..probably yet another rights thing, squeezing every penny out of an artist that made them millions... the music industry is full of sick(greedy) people....Anyway Phase II was a bit of a rerun of the debut album, understandibly with the very succesful format. some amazing moments again though..

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The Jimmy Castor Bunch - Phase Two ( 72 ^ 99mb)

Jimmy Castor (born June 23, 1937) was a product of Harlem's Sugar Hill. A master of novelty/disco funk, saxophonist Jimmy Castor started as a doo wop singer in New York. Before even finishing junior high school, Jimmy Castor had written his first million seller for Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers called, “I Promise To Remember.” While furthering his education at New York City’s prestigious High School of Music & Art and later attending City College, Jimmy pursued his musical career by assembling a band of his own playing an assortment of major New York nightspots. He then wrote his second million seller, “Hey Leroy Your Mama’s Calling You,” on Mercury Records, through which a new flashy and spirited performer was introduced to the public 

He formed the Jimmy Castor Bunch in 1972 and signed with RCA. Their first release, It's Just Begun, launched Castor's next phase with the song "Troglodyte (Cave Man)." It was a Top Ten R&B and pop smash. The follow up album, Phase Two adheres closely to the previous album's formula, right down to using an orchestral instrumental for its intro and epilogue. As a result, parts of it feel like a re-tread: the standout example of this problem is "Luther the Anthropoid (Ape Man)," which sports a nice groove but is a merely a thinly veiled rewrite of "Troglodyte." Despite some uninspired moments like this, Phase Two makes up for the problem with tight arrangements and an infectiously funky performance from the band. " "Say Leroy (The Creature From the Black Lagoon Is Your Father)" mixes Latin rock with frenzied funk-rock breaks to create a punchy tune that gave the band another pop hit and "When?" is an effective, fuzz guitar-drenched trip through the woes of ghetto life. The most unusual and interesting of these cuts is "Tribute to Jimi: Purple Haze/Foxy Lady," a novel medley that layers the vocal melody and lyrics of "Foxy Lady" over the tune of "Purple Haze." The album also does well in its softer moments: "Paradise" is a pleasantly harmonized ballad and the band's saxophone-led instrumental take on "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" is quite enchanting.

Castor continued the trend in 1975 with "The Bertha Butt Boogie" and later recorded "E-Man Boogie," "King Kong," "Bom Bom," and "Amazon." The Castor band included keyboardist/trumpeter Gerry Thomas, bassist Doug Gibson, guitarist Harry Jensen, conga player Lenny Fridle, Jr., and drummer Bobby Manigault. Thomas left to join the Fatback band. Castor recorded as a solo performer from 1976 until 1988. He had one of his bigger hits in many years with a 1988 revival of "Love Makes a Woman," which paired him with disco diva Joyce Sims. 

So far the '90s have been quiet years for the E-Man, but as a 1993 appearance at New York City's Sounds Of Brazil nightclub from the re-formed Jimmy Castor Bunch proved, Jimmy Castor, still youthful in his early fifties, still has plenty spark left in him. Meanwhile he's samples (from troglodyte and it's just begun) still have kept their appeal 35 years later...




01 - Fanfare (Prologue) (0:24)
02 - Say Leroy (The Creature From The Black Lagoon is Your Father) (6:36)
03 - Luther The Anthropoid (Ape Man) (3:21)
04 - Party Life (7:38)

05 - When? (4:30)
06 - Paradise (3:04)
07 - The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (6:23)
08 - Tribute To Jimi: Purple Haze / Foxey Lady (3:51)
09 - Fanfare (Epilogue) (0:37)
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10 - Troglodyte (84 mix) ( 5:45)