Soul Children
Band members Related acts
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line up 1 (1968-75) - Shelbra Bennett (RIP 2013) -- vocals - Anita Louis -- vocals - John "Blackfoot" Colbert (aka J. Blackfoot) (RIP 2011) -- vocals - Norman West Jr. -- vocals
line up 2 (1975-79) - Shelbra Bennett -- vocals - Anita Louis -- vocals - John "Blackfoot" Colbert (aka J. Blackfoot) (RIP 2011 -- vocals - Norman West Jr. -- vocals
line up 3 (2007-2011) - Casandra Graham -- vocals - Ann Hines -- vocals - John "Blackfoot" Colbert (aka J. Blackfoot) (RIP 2011 -- vocals - Norman West Jr. -- vocals
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- The Bar-Kays (John Colbert) - J. Blackfoot (solo efforts) - John Colbert (solo efforts) - Colors Incorporated (Norman West Jr.) - Shelbra Deane (aka Shelba Bennett) (solo efforts) - The Del Rios (Norman West Jr.) - Ann Hines (solo efforts) - Norm West (solo efforts) - Norman West Jr. (solo efforts)
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Genre: soul Rating: 3 stars *** Title: Friction Company: Stax Catalog: STS
5507 Country/State: US Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: punch hole bottom right corner Available: 1 Catalog ID: 1223 Price: $15.00
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Wow, a Stax concept album ... Written and produced by Homer Banks and Carl Hampton, 1974's "Friction" explored the impacts of a broken relationship. As a warning, anyone looking for an uplifting thirty minutes of dance filled enjoyment was in for a rude awakening. Featuring a ballad heavy collection of material the seven tracks outlined the bitter breakdown of a marriage from the perspectives of both the husband and the wife. Song for song, this had to be one of the bleakest albums in my collection. NO sunshine and happiness in these grooves. Whereas the group's earlier album's had always showcased John "Blackfoot" Colbert in the vocal spotlight, this time around he was forced to share the spotlight. Exemplified by the vampy ballad 'What's Happening Baby' and the scary 'Can't Let You Go', Blackfoot remained the group's prime singer, but this time around Shelbra Bennett got plenty of face time in the form of the ballads 'I'll Be The Other Woman' and 'Love Makes It Right'. The album certainly wasn't without it's charms, but unlike most fans, I wasn't won over by the concept, or the material. To my ears the set was simply too ballad heavy. Yeah, I know it's hard to write am up-tempo break-up song. Still, the overarching sense of doom and gloom simply wore you down over time.
"Where Is
Your Woman Tonight" track listing: 1.) I'll Be The Other Woman (Homer Banks - Carl Hampton) - 3:38 Quality
Stax ballad, though Shelbra Bennett's
vocals were a bit on the shrill side
and the absence of a strong hook kept it from being one of those classic
Stax ballads. That didn't stop Stax from releasing it as a
single, providing the group with their biggest pop and R&B
hit. rating:
*** stars 'What's
Happening Baby' was one of the few tracks featuring J. Blackfoot on lead
vocals. Personally
I've never liked supper club tunes that open up with extended vamps (and
this one went on and on and on). That means I wasn't a big fan
of this one, though you had to give Blackfoot credit turning the
"pleading" factor on as this one rolled along. Stax also
tapped this one as a single.
rating: ** stars Built
on a mesmerizing bass line, the heavily
orchestrated 'Can't Let You Go' brought the album's feeling of desperation
and despair to a new level. This one was so intense as to almost be
frightening. great backing vocals from the ladies. rating:
*** stars. (side
2) 'It's Out of My Hands' was saved by having one of the album's better melodies, some nice electric guitar, and another killer chorus. rating: *** stars 2.).Just One Moment (Homer Banks - Carl Hampton) - 4:58 Sweet
ballad from a bad boy who was about to get his financial butt kicked for bad
behavior. rating:
**** stars 'We're Getting Too Close' was the album's lone up-tempo number and a nice change of pace. It was also Blackfoot's finest moment on the album ... rating: **** stars 4.) Love Makes It Right (Homer Banks - Carl Hampton) - 5;52 'Love
Makes It Right' was another ballad that
started out with an extended vocal vamp ... this one kind of funny
given Bennett sounded like she been inhaling whippets. By the time she
actually started singing, the song was halfway through. Luckily, once
she started singing, Bennett kicked the hell out of the tune and having a
catchy title chorus didn't hurt.
rating: *** stars
- 1973's 'I'll Be the Other Woman' b/w 'Come Back Kind of Love' (Stax catalog number STA-0182) # 36 pop; # 3 R&B - 1974's 'Love Makes It Right (Monologue)' b/w 'Love Makes It Right' (Stax catalog number STA--0218) - 1974's 'What's Happening Baby' b/w 'What's Happening Baby (Monologue) (Stax catalog number STA-0230)
If you're impressed, or influenced by such things, the music oriented magazine Mojo included the album on its list of the 100 greatest soul albums of all time - # 61 ...
Blackfoot passed away on November 2011.
Bennett passed on in May 2013.
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Genre: soul Rating: 4 stars **** Title: Where Is Your Woman Tonight Company: Epic Catalog: PE
34455 Country/State: US Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: -- Available: 1 Catalog ID: 837 Price: $15.00
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Following Stax's unfortunate collapse, 1977's "Where Is You Woman Tonight" found the group recording their second set for Epic. At least on a superficial level the results looked ominous ... Cover art showing the trio decked out in white suits and a fancy dress gown left you wondering if Epic had squeezed out the group's soul stance in favor of a polished pop attack ... Luckily after an album with Don Davis in the production seat, their second Epic release found the trio reuniting with Stax mainstay David Porter. In addition to handling production duties, Porter was responsible for writing, or co-writing six of the album's ten tracks. Showing he'd brought his "A" game to the project, Porter got a helping hand from longtime Stax stalwarts Bettye Crutcher and Marvell Thomas. While the album wasn't perfect, Porter was smart enough to know where the group's artistic strengths lay which thankfully meant dance and disco-influenced were kept to a minimum throughout the set - the most notably dance oriented track 'Take Me - Make Me' was also the set's worst performance. And that probably went a long way to explaining why the album never had a commercial chance. Graced with three extremely soulful vocalists (Anita Louis was an overlooked gem), in an era of disco excesses Stax-influenced material like 'Head On Collision', the title track and 'There Always' must have already sounded dated in 1977. Shame, since song-for-song, this was a great LP.
"Where Is
Your Woman Tonight" track listing: 1.) Head On Collision (Marvell Thomas - Dave Porter) - 2:57 While producer Porter may have smoothed out some of the group's rougher edges, judging by 'Head On Collision', he didn't do anything to tamper with John Blackfoot's raw and soul drenched voice. Always loved the automotive imagery and the cool hand claps that kicked the opening along ... rating: **** stars 2.) If You Want a Woman This Time (Bettye Crutcher) - 3:20 Spotlighting Anita Louis crystalline voice, the group's cover of Bettye Crutcher's 'If You Want a Woman This Time' was simply gorgeous. How Epic overlooked this one as a single is beyond understanding. The give and take between Louis and the guys on harmony vocals was enough to put Gladys Knight and the Pips to shame ... rating: **** stars 3.) Take Me -Make Me (David Porter - Marvell Thomas) - 3:29 Opening with an interesting jazzy, flavor, sadly 'Take Me, Make Me' quickly dived into disco-flavored territory. Guess you couldn't blame them for chasing popular trends, but the results weren't very impressive. rating: ** stars 4.) You Got Me Over (Bettye Crutcher) - 3:57 With Blackfoot and Louis trading lead vocals, the Bettye Crutcher-penned ballad 'You Got Me Over' was wrapped in an old-school, shout-out arrangement that included some interesting instrumentation, including what sounded like a coral electric sitar. rating: **** stars 5.) (You're a) Diamond In the Rough (David Porter - Marvell Thomas) - 4:04 While '(You're a) Diamond In the Rough' was another track with a dance orientation, Blackfoot's gritty and energetic delivery kept the song firmly rooted in soul territory, thereby saving it for going into the disposable category. Another track with commercial potential ... rating: *** stars
(side
2) Underscoring their long-standing Stax roots, 'Where Is Your Woman Tonight (Part I & II)' started out sounding like something The Staple Singers might have recorded (which in my book is a great thing). Hard to adequately describe it, but there was just a unique vibe to the song - know how The Staples managed to take a Gospel -inspired tune and slap a commercial edge on it ? Well, The Soul Children showed they could do the same thing on this one. Louis insightful mid-song vamp was great. Easily one of the album highlights (even though it clocked in at over six minutes), and easy to see why it was tapped as a single. rating: **** stars 2,) What You Did To Me Last Night (Bettye Crutcher) - 3:20 Opening up with some amazing funky guitar, 'What You Did To Me Last Night' was a conventional dance track saved by Louis' wonderful voice and some nice work from The Memphis Horns ... rating: *** stars 3.) You Don't Need a Ring (David Porter - Marvell Thomas) - 3:45 With Colbert and Louis sharing lead, 'You Don't Need a Ring' was a big, lush, old-school soul ballad. Not a reflection on the song's quality, but even in 1977 it must have sounded dated. Interesting to see that Epic tapped it as the album's second single (it vanished without a trace). rating: *** stars 4.) There Always (David Porter - Marvell Thomas) - 2:53 Like most great Stax songs, the bouncy 'There Always' had an instantly arresting melody; a dynamite vocal arrangement, and a hook that wouldn't leave your head ... Colbert and Louis seldom sounded as good together. This is the one Epic should have tapped as the 'A' side, rather than hiding it as a 'B' side. rating: **** stars 5.) Merry-Go-Round (H. Thigpen - J. Banks - Marvell Thomas) - 2:51 Sharing many of the same characteristics as 'There Always', the closer 'Merry-Go-Round' was almost as good. Shame they hadn't recorded it in 1972, rather than 1977. Another track wasted as a 'B' side. rating: **** stars
As mentioned, the album was tapped for a pair of singles:
- 1977's 'Where Is Your Woman Tonight (Part 1)' b/w 'Merry-Go-Round' (Epic catalog number 8-50345) R&B # 96 - 1977's 'You Don’t Need a Ring' b/w 'There Always' (Epic catalog number 8-50405)
Unfortunately, Epic seemingly had no idea what to do with the group and offered little or no promotional support. Needless to say, the album did little commercially.
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