Professor Earl Lett - The Story of Professor Earl Lett (2013) CD VersionTramp Promo + Booklet - Rare Soul/Funk (FLAC)

Earl Lett was born in 1945 and grew up in Monroeville, Alabama. His musical career started after his demobilization in 1961 when he went back to Massachusetts to go on tour with his first professional circuit band: Earl Lett & the Blendaires. While on the road playing venues along the chitlin' circuit the band landed the possibility to record their first 45rpm single in Plattsburgh, NY (Monkey's tail b/w You're the one for me, Empire Rec 1964). When Earl and his band held a residency in a club in New York, a producer from South Africa heard them and offered an engagement in Tunisia. In 1967, not long after his return to Massachusetts he released his second 45 (Do The Thing b/w Now Is The Time) on the small Boston record label Wild Records. In 1969 Earl decided that it is time to start his own label, Beantown Records. He soon released his debut 45 (Soul sax b/w The boston puppy) but went straight to Europe to play there for one and a half years. Upon his return to the USA he accidentally landed a spot in Ike & Tina Turner's Kings of Rhythm band. Earl toured with Ike for one year, then he moved to Boston to study sax at the Berkeley School of Music. In the following years he kept releasing his music on Beantown, including his one and only full-length studio album titled "Love Serenade". Mad Professor, Large Professor, Professor Longhair…the world of beats is rife with talented performers who’ve adopted learned titles of dubious authenticity. Here’s another one, Professor Earl Letts and while, again, there’s some doubt as to his academic standing there’s no such ambiguity about his sax playing, soul vocals or compositional skills. Or his swagger. Check him out on the cover, he looks like Jimi’s (Hendrix) older sax toting brother talk about I get stoned, I can’t go home/ I’m calling long distance by public saxophone. That’s what I’m talking about...LOL!  The Story Of Professor Earl Lett is the first time Lett’s funky 45s from the sixties and seventies have been compiled altogether giving long overdue recognition to the forgotten and lesser known stars of the soul and funk explosion from the golden age. The pattern of this album follows the usual formula (i.e a broadly chronological journey through the collected 45s) starting all the way back in 1964 with the R&B instro Monkey’s Tail (complete with twenty-five second ‘Wipeout‘-style drum solo) and moving onto the crusty (and I do mean crusty) old vintage funky soul of an LP highlight Do The Thing. Another highlight is the sleazy funk of Green Power Pt. 1 of which you get the instrumental and much slicker, more uptempo and equally dope LP version if you cop the cd. Elsewhere, you’ll find Lett doing jazzy funk on Take Twenty, dropping the Isaac Hayes ish Theme From Canada and space funk on The Funky Professor. Another sureshot from the Tramp assembly line, then. Not forgetting a couple of rare northern gems!..but i,ll let you find those! Superb album of raw,raw,soul & funk!

AMM

                                                                        The Tasters!