Liner Notes
PUBLIC PERFORMANCE CLEARANCE�BMI
*ARRANGED AND CONDUCTED BY FUQUA-EDWARDS
RECORDING ENGINEER: JIM CROTTY
RECORDING TECHNICIAN: TOM BROWN
RECORDED IN RCA'S STUDIO C, NEW YORK CITY
SOUL AIN'T NO NEW THING
SOUL STARTED A LONG TIME AGO
EVERYBODY'S COMIN' BACK HOME TO THE CENTER, THE ROOT GUT OF CITY SOUL, URBAN BLUES; THE LOUD, BRASH, EBULLIENT, DYNAMIC, SHAKING SOUNDS OF THE CONCRETE AND BUSTLE OF THE BIG CITY.
SOUL EXISTS IN ALL KINDS OF MUSIC. IT'S THERE IN THE WAIL OF A COWBOY LAMENT, IN THE RHYTHMS OF BRAZIL, IN A HEBREW CHANT OR THE FIDDLES AND BANJOS OF COUNTRY MUSIC. BUT THE SOUL OF CITY MUSIC IS SOMETHING ALTOGETHER DIFFERENT AND UNIQUE. IT COMES OUT OF THE SCREECH OF THE SUBWAY, THE BROKEN HYDRANT THAT SERVES AS SUMMER REFRESHMENT, THE TEEMING POPULATION SQUEEZED INTO EVERY EMPTY SPACE, THE TOWERING SKYSCRAPERS AND FUNKY TENEMENTS, THE NEON COMMUNICATION, THE RIOTOUS PALETTE OF FOOD OF EVERY CONCEIVABLE KIND AND THE ENDLESS NOISES OF ELECTRIC LIFE.
BOOBIE KNIGHT AND HIS WONDERFULLY TITLED GROUP, THE SOULCIETY, ARE HERE TO TELL US ALL ABOUT LIFE IN THIS STEEL JUNGLE. HE TELLS US ABOUT LOVE AND COMMUNICATION AND GETTING TOGETHER IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS. HIS DRIVING RHYTHMS, SHOUTING HORNS, SOULFUL VOCALS AND VISION ARE PERFECTLY SUITED TO THE ENVIRONMENT HIS ART DERIVES FROM. IT'S THE SAME ENVIRONMENT THAT HAD CHICK WEBB STOMPIN' AT THE SAVOY AND DUKE ELLINGTON SURVEYING A HARLEM AIR SHAFT; THE SAME ENVIRONMENT THAT HAD DOZENS OF R&B OR R7R GROUPS EXCITING PEOPLE FOR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS. SOUL AIN'T NO NEW THING, THAT'S FOR CERTAIN, BUT IN THE HANDS OF BOOBIE KNIGHT IT IS ONCE AGAIN REJUVENATED AND REINTERPRETED FOR A NEW GENERATION AND A NEW AGE.
SOUL KNOWS NO RACE. WHATEVER ITS HERITAGE AND ORIGINS, IT SHOUTS ITS MESSAGE FOR EVERYONE TO HEAR. THAT'S THE WAY BOOBIE FEELS ABOUT HIS MUSIC, AND THAT'S THE WAY THE AUDIENCES WHO COME TO HEAR HIS LIVE PERFORMANCES REACT. THE SOULCIETY, INCIDENTALLY, IS YET ANOTHER IDEA FROM HARVEY FUQUA, WHOSE CONSIDERABLE R&B CREDENTIALS GO ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE MOONGLOWS. ORIGINALLY, THE GROUP WAS ORGANIZED FOR RECORDING PURPOSES BUT NOW THEY HAVE A LOYAL FOLLOWING FOR THEIR CONCERT WORK�A FOLLOWING THAT IS INVARIABLY PLEASED BY MARTHA, THE TOTEMIC POLE THAT'S BECOME A KIND OF SYMBOL.
THE REAL POWER OF THIS GROUP, OF COURSE, COMES FROM THE SUPERB MUSICIANSHIP OF EVERYONE INVOLVED. IT TAKES MORE THAN SOUL AND GOOD INTENTIONS TO SEND A MESSAGE ACROSS. IT ALSO TAKES TALENT AND HARD WORK. THE EFFORT THAT EACH MUSICIAN PUTS INTO THESE SIDES IS EVIDENT, AND NO ONE IS MORE GRATIFIED BY THIS EXCELLENCE THAN BOOBIE.
ALTHOUGH THE SOULCIETY IS BOOBIE KNIGHT'S THIRD BAND, THIS IS HIS FIRST RECORD ALBUM. I'M SURE IT WON'T BE THE LAST.
RCA STEREO RECORDS MAY BE PLAYED ON ANY MODERN PHONOGRAPH WITH A LIGHTWEIGHT TONE ARM. YOU WILL HEAR EXCELLENT SOUND REPRODUCTION ON A MONO PLAYER AND FULL STEREO SOUND ON A STEREO PLAYER.
TMK(S) � REGISTERED � MARCA(S) REGISTRADA(S) RCA CORPORATION
� 1972, RCA RECORDS, NEW YORK, N.Y.
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