Freddie Terrell And The Soul Expedition - Soul Expedition (2005) P-Vine - Rare Soul/Funk

Born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1947, Freddie Terrell was born into a musical family. His mother was in The Every Ready Gospel Singers with her 2 sisters and mother while his father Johnny was in an alkl male group called The Southern Belles. He would be hired (he wanted to be in a group so bad but had to wait) at age 12 or 13 as a guitarist in his father’s band. He would get into secular music through Jazz, and a band in school called The New Breed. They played Jazz favorites of the time, and then Freddie moved on to R& B through his friend Jay Floyd. Floyd played bass with Lee Moses in a band called the Showstoppers. It was here Terrell could let it all hang out, something Christian music did not allow guitarwise. Terrell played the club scene with Moses, playing with jamming such as Mighty Hannibal, Calvin Arnold (who produced this record), and even Jimi Hendrix, who was in town playing with the Isley Brothers. Freddie played on many of Lee Moses ( Musicor, Dynamo) and Hermon Hitson ( Minit, Atco) Records, and went on to make music further with Mighty Hannibal, Major Lance, and Wilson Pickett. The latter two he would go on tour with, most notably with the Wicked One. Terrell worked the Chitlin’ Circuit in Pickett’s band, touring extensively with the who’s who of R & B in the 60’s. After his time with Pickett he released “You Had It Made” on Capitol with The Blue Rhytym Band, and later went on to form The Soul Expedition. A church based band, they would play in church but also back major players when they came through. Their debut on Lefevre was pressed in small quantities and is definitely sought after. The Soul Expedition were reissued by Jazzman many years after. As the music progressed to Disco, the Soul Expedition went their separate ways, with Terrell, the master guitar player, working as a sideman once again for many years This very record is what Freddie is best known for. He continues to play music today, some 50 odd years plus since he started. 

One of the rarest and finest independent funk albums ever made, the self-titled LP by Soul Expedition has remained elusive to even the most ardent funk fan and record collector. Nobody knows why the LP is such a rarity, especially when as many as 2000 copies were first pressed up back in 1971, i still have mine but this CD has the 4 Bonus tracks included so it was a no brainer which to post up. Less than a handful of copies are known to exist today, so until now only a fortunate few have been able to witness what is a very powerful, raw and heavy funk sound, the likes of which is usually only pressed on 45. Like many musicians of his time, band leader Freddie Terrell started his musical career in gospel. as explained above. With the Blue Rhythm Band He co wrote with Herman Hitson the deep funk classic ‘Got That Will to Learn’ which was credited to Hitson and released as a 45 on Atco. But by 1969 Freddie was getting itchy feet and was wanting to form a new band, ‘We were looking for soulful musicians, so it was like a ‘soul expedition’’. With that he formed the Soul Expedition band, using Ralph Favers and Eli Rivers from the Blue Rhythm Band, and other musicians recruited from friends and members of his local church in Atlanta, GA. Freddie feels that it was a natural progression to move into funk music, ‘Funk came from the gospel, but it’s more rhythmical and has a better feel to make people move’. Soul Expedition was a professional working band, not just performing under their own name but also backing travelling musicians such as BB King and Tyrone Davis when they came to town. But recording was not on the agenda, and their album would never have come about but for the encouragement and assistance of a local pastor named Dr Stafford. He owned 3 churches, and many of the band members would spend their daytime hours teaching music to kids who attended the church school. In the evenings the band would get together to rehearse or perform with other local bands such as the Liberation Band (also known as Dr Feelgood & the Interns), at the Underground club in downtown Atlanta, which Dr Stafford also owned. He even provided the band with their own tour bus, which was used to travel to gigs in Chicago, Tennessee, Alabama and throughout south eastern USA. When Dr Stafford announced that he was giving them the opportunity to record an album, they tightened up and practiced every day. The studio was in Atlanta and owned by Maurice LeFevre, who was also the engineer. He had the first 24 track studio in Georgia, built by Dan Flickinger. He also did custom label recordings for a set fee, and it was on his label that the LP was released in 1972. This lovingly recreated reissue from P-Vine in Japan is a must for all lovers of deep funk/soul.Freddie kills it with his brillant guitar work..A TRUE MASTERPIECE!

AMM

                                                                          The Taster!

Line Up

Freddie Terrell - Leader, Guitar, Co-Producer & Arranger
Steve Rushin - Bass Guitar
Johnny Davenport, Raymond Smith - Bongos, Soloists
John Adams - Clarinet, Saxophone
Ralph Favors - Saxophone, Flute
Eli Rivers - Trumpet, Trombone
Charles Edwards - Drums
Meurice LeFevre - Executive-Producer
Arranged & Produced – Dr. Stafford

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