6680 Lexington
Band members Related acts
|
line up 1 (1972) - Virgil Beckham -- guitar - Bonnie Bowden -- vocals - Spencer T. "Ernie" Earnshaw -- drums, percussion - David Garland -- vocals, organ, clarinet, sax, flute, percussion - Darlene Love -- vocals - Tony McCashen -- harmonica - Chris Morgan (aka Raymond F. Bang) -- vocals - Art Munson -- vocals, guitar - Joe Lamano (RIP) -- bass - Mike Patterson (RIP 2017) -- vocals, piano - George Poole -- violin - Edna Wright (RIP 2020) -- vocals
|
- Arthur And Mary (Edna Wright) - Virgil Beckham (solo efforts) - Big Foot (Virgil Beckham, David Garland and Spencer T. "Ernie" Earnshaw) - The Blossoms (Edna Wright) - Bobby and the Midnight (David Garland) - Bonnie Bowden (solo efforts) - The Brothers and Sisters (Edna Wright) - The Cogics (Edna Wright) - The Elites (Edna Wright) - Fred Field and Friends (Virgil Beckham) - The Forte Four (Spencer T. "Ernie" Earnshaw - Honey Cone (Edna Wright) - Darlene Love (solo efforts) - Sérgio Mendes & Brasil '77 (Bonnie Bowden) - Morgan (Chris Morgan) - Chris Morgan (solo efforts) - Art Munson (solo efforts) - Michael Patterson (solo efforts) - Mike Patterson & The Fugitives - Mike Patterson Orchestra - The Mike Patterson Band - George Poole (solo efforts) - George Poole Section - The George Poole Orchestra - The George Poole String And Brass Ensembles - The Raelets (Edna Wright) - The Rhythm Rockers (Mike Patterson) - The Togas (Chris Martin) - The Wackers (Spencer T. "Ernie" Earnshaw) - Edna Wright (solo efforts)
|
|
Genre: Southern soul Rating: 3 stars *** Title: 6680 Lexington Company: MGM Year: 1971 Country/State: California Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: DJ sticker on back panel Available: 1 Catalog ID: minor cover wear Price: $25
|
MGM isn't a record label known for rare releases, but I have to admit that I had never heard of the band 6680 Lexington until stumbling across a copy of their sole 1971 album at a flea market.
I'd
never heard of any of the twelve band members except for the curious
presence of famed sisters/back-up singers Darlene Love and Edna
Wright. They're not shown on the cover photo, but are listed as band
members on the liner notes. Anyhow, that alone was enough for me to
plunk down the $3.00 asking price for this obscurity. Co-produced by
singer/keyboard player Mike Peterson and singer/guitarist Art Munson (both
had previously played with the band Big Foot),19
"6680
Lexington" track listing: 1.) Can't You See (Mike Patterson) - 2:57 rating: ** stars Patterson's 'Can't You See' started the album with a Gospel-rock flavor. Imagine a slightly more polished Delaney and Bonnie tune and you'd be in the right neighborhood. Morgan's rugged voice was certainly nice, but the rest of the tune sounded very formulaic. The blaring female backing vocals didn't add much to the tune. Same for George Poole's end-of-song violin solo. Never understood why MGM tapped this tune as a promotional single given there were far better efforts on the album.
- 1971's 'Can't You See' b/w 'Gonna Love You Right' (MGM catalog number K 14280)
2.) Sara Lee (David Garland - Virgil Beckham) - 3:12 rating: **** stars Probably the album's second best performance, 'Sara Lee' offered up an unexpected mix of jazz and pop moves with kind of a Samba flavor added to the mix. Nice Virgil Beckham guitar solo. Not sure what the back story is, but hardcore hip-hopper Viktor Vaughn sampled the tune for one of his efforts - 'Let Me Watch' (Featuring Apani B.). 3.) Be My Woman (Art Munson - Mike Patterson) - 4:06 rating: *** stars Another Munson-Patterson collaboration, 'Be My Woman' found the group returning to Southern soul territory. The song was certainly one of the album's more commercial performances. 4.) Fire And Rain (James Taylor) - 3:41 rating: *** stars Their cover of James Taylor's 'Fire and Rain' slapped a Delaney and Bonnie country-soul feel on the original melody. Not sure who handled the vocals on this one. 5.) Drink My Water (Art Munson) - 3:10 rating: **** stars With Bonnie Bowden finally getting a shot at lead vocals (well she shared them with Art Munson), the breezy 'Drink My Water' would have been my choice for a single. Great melody, nice vocals and fantastic guitar solo from Virgil Beckham.
(side
2) Propelled by some nice roaring guitars, the opening sounded like something off an Allman Brothers album, but then the foggy group vocals kicked in. Still, the unexpected Southern rock orientation was a nice surprise. The song also appeared as the "B" side to their promotional single. 2.) Feeling Alright (Dave Mason) - 3:41 rating: *** stars Well, they exhibited good taste in picking a Traffic tune, but there arrangement didn't add anything to the original and their decision to out-shriek one another on vocals didn't make for a particularly pleasanrt experience. Pass. 3.) Slippin' And Slidin' (Albert Collins - Edwin Bocage - James Smith - Richard Penniman) - 2:45 rating: * star In the early-'70s German music was taken over by a wave of young, rather talentless "hippy" singing groups like the James Last Singers. Their repertoire was to take a well know rock song and add anonymous group vocals to the tune. That's exactly what this cover of Little Richard's 'Slippin' and Slidin'' sounds like. Always wondered what the backwards tape clip at the end was about ... 4.) Damn Good Friend Of Mine (Bill Medley) - 3:50 rating: ** stars I'm not sure who handled lead vocals on the their over of The Righteous Brothers' 'Damn Good Friend Of Mine' but he certainly sounded like one of the Righteous Brothers. Incidentally, Bill Medley apparently produced material for a shelved mid-'70s Chris Morgan album.
© October, 2024 Scott R. Blackerby
© Scott R. Blackerby |
BACK TO BADCAT PAYMENT INFORMATION
71's
"6680 Lexington" is an album I've listened to
numerous times. I'm guessing the band and album name reflected a
street address of some sort ... Sadly, there's absolutely nothing original,
or truly engaging across these nine tracks, but I've held on to it for a
couple of years because there's a certain
low key charm throughout. Plus singer Bonnie Bowden is from Bessemer,
Alabama which was where my family's roots trace back to. Musically the
album featured a mixture of band originals; largely penned by Patterson and
Munson, with a couple of popular covers thrown in. Tracks like the
promotional single 'Can't You See', 'Be My Woman' and 'Drink My Water' found
the band operating in Southern soul and Delaney and Bonnie-styled
country-soul territory. The group was certain blessed to have at least four
decent vocalists in Bowden, Garland, Morgan (formally a member of The Togas)
and Patterson. Unfortunately, given the minimal liner notes you
couldn't tell who was singing. Personal favorites came in the form of
the odd pop-jazz hybrid 'Sara Lee' (best known for having been sampled by
hip-hopper Viktor Vaughn) and the atypical Suthern rocker 'Gonna
Love You Right.' 