Eric Dunbar
Band members Related acts
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line up 1 (1976) - Eric Dunbar -- vocals, keyboards
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- The City News Band (Eric Dunbar)
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Genre: soul Rating: *** (3 stars) Title: Freeway Company: P-Vine Catalog: PLP-7743 Country/State: New Orleans, Louisiana Grade (cover/record): NM/NM Comments: Japanese reissue; sealed copy Available: 1 Catalog ID: -- Price: $50.00
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I stumbled on to this one when I was trying to compile a discography for Lloyd Price's short-lived, mid-'70s TSG tax scam label. Originally released in 1976, the TSG pressing is hideously rare, routinely selling for $2K - $3K. Luckily in 2022, as part of a reissue of TSG albums, the Japanese P-Vine label released the collection in CD and vinyl formats. That reissue is readily available and affordable.
Dunbar is a New Orleans-based singer and keyboardist. He'd been kicking around the city's music scene since the mid-'60s, joining the funk outfit City News Band in 1969. In 1975 the group released a knock off of Carl Douglas' "Kung Fu Fighting" as an obscure single for the small New Orleans Brother Records.
- 1975's "Chan the Man" b/w "Bustin Up" (instrumental) (Brother catalog number BR-101)
Anyhow,
"Freeway" is a complete mystery to me. I have no idea how
Dunbar was connected to Lloyd Price's TSG label. I'm not even sure
this was really a Dunbar solo album given his work with The City New Band.
Other than the fact original TSG copies are exceptionally rare, I'm at a loss to explain why you'd want to pay thousands of dollars for an original copy ... It would be interesting to learn whether Dunbar was even aware of this album being released. It's a sure bet he didn't benefit financially; perhaps not even from the various reissues.
Dunbar has a Facebook page at: Eric Dunbar | Facebook He's also written about his life challenges and his deep faith at: About Eric Dunbar and His Faith Journey
"Freeway" track listing: 1.) Freeway (Eric Dunbar) - 3:14 *** (3 stars) The funky title track has always reminded me of something out of The Ohio Player's catalog. Nice interaction between Dunbar and the backing vocalists. The song also appeared as the "B" side to P-Vine's 2023 "Save the Young One" single 2.) Love Rope (Traci Borges) - 3:00 *** (3 stars) Penned by Knight Studio owner Traci Borges, "Love Rope" was powered by some Larry Graham-styled fuzz bass, cheesy '70s synthesizers, Dunbar's Sly Stone-styled vocals and some tasty horns. Easily the album's funkiest track. 3.) Super Love (Eric Dunbar - Johnny A. Lewis, Jr. - Traci Borges) - 3:12 **** (4 stars) "Super Love" was funky with some hysterical lyrics, but this time out sounded like something The Meters, or The Neville Brothers might have recorded (with a touch of Donna Summer on the orgasmic moans). One of the album's best performances, but the production sounded a little flat. 4.) Save the Young Ones (Eric Dunbar) - 2:53 *** (3 stars) Opening with some blaring horns, "Save the Young Ones' immediately dove into a middle-of-the-road groove coupled with some typical mid-'70s "let's-save-the-world" lyrics. Dunbar's spoken word segment always brings a smile to my face. In 2023 the Japanese P-Vine label released the song as a vinyl single:
- 2023 "Save the Young One" b/w "Freeway" (P-Vine catalog number P7-6391)
(side
2) Powered by some bubbly Clavinet (?), "Rainbow Men" was another slice of Larry Graham-styled funk. Very danceable. Would have given it an additional star except for the abrupt ending. 2.) You Must Be From Heaven (Eric Dunbar) - 3:25 *** (3 stars) "You Must Be From Heaven " was a radio friendly pop-soul ballad. Easy to picture Atlantic Star, or Luther Vandross enjoying a radio hit with a cover. 3.) Does Anybody Wanna (Harry Revain - Larry Landry) - 6:50 **** (4 stars) "Does Anybody Wanna" was unlike anything else on the album. The track opened up with a dark, jazzy vibe and then a roaring bass line kicked in and the song morphed into a weird hybrid of blues and Hendrix-styled rock before ending with a return to sax-propelled jazzy ballad territory. Raw and ragged, this one was great. 4.) Magical Moments (Eric Dunbar - Traci Borges) - 3:04 *** (3 stars) "Magical Moments" ended the album on slightly funky flavored ballad. As elsewhere on the album, Dunbar had a sweet, commercial voice, but the shrill backing vocals didn't exactly help the production. Around the two minute mark the song briefly sounded like a George Clinton and Funkadelic call and response effort, before prematurely fading out.
He wrote it, but I have no idea if Dunbar was still a member of the band at the time, but there is also an obscure, disco-tinged City News single on the small New Orleans Ola label:
- 1982's "Lookin' Good" b/w "The Bells of My Heart" (Ola catalog number OLA-7-111/112)
© Scott R. Blackerby July, 2026
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The material could well reflect City Band efforts that were sold to
TSG. The majority of the album's eight tunes were written together and apart
by Dunbar and New Orleans-based singer and
Knight Studio owner Traci Borges. And that's about all the
bibliographical information I can provide. .In the realm of tax scam
releases this album is actually pretty good. Assuming he was the lead
singer, Dunbar had a decent voice and wasn't a bad writer. True, nothing
here was particularly original, but Dunbar's tastes in material weren't
bad. Performances like the title track, the fuzz bass powered "Love Rope"
and "Rainbow
Men"
reflected an affection for '60s and '70s soul and funk artists like
Larry Graham, The Ohio Players and Sly Stone. "Super Love"
injected a touch of The Meters and The Neville Brothers into the mix.
With the exception of "Does Anybody Wanna"
which reflected an atypical
mix of jazzy moves and Hendrix rock nothing
here was really "special", but then you can make the same
statement for hundreds, if not thousands of album's released by major
labels. And while I don't have "golden ears", the production
on a couple of the came off as slightly flat ("Super Love"),
or suffered from abrupt fade outs ("Rainbow Man"). 
