Ike White - Changin' Times (LP 1976 L.A. International) (CD 2018 Trio Records Japan + Bonus Track) Rare Soul/Funk (FLAC)

I posted this way back on the old blog in mp3 so this is an upgrade..This is an add on to the suday review from a week ago also requested. Born in 1945 & passed in 2014 This excellent and widely undiscovered album that i dig out at least once a month.‘Changin’ times‘ which was released on L.A International as vinyl, (again mine is now well worn) and was the one and only album he released. Considering that it was written & performed at Tehachapi State Prison,California, where Ike was an inmate at the time, the level of sincerity is clear. It was actually Stevie Wonder who wrote the sleeve notes: “There are many Ike Whites’ in this world, let’s give these men a fair chance making not the colour of his skin final fate for being behind bars“ The album is probably best known for the more famous ‘Love and Affection‘ which has made the tracklistings of many a rare groove compilation, a real slow dance floor killer. Extremely rare on any format nowadays, a stunning piece of work by the unfortunate Ike White. Any fan of the Bay Area funk sound of acts like Sly Stone, Tower Of Power, early Pointer Sisters, Graham Central Station, the Headhunters, Betty Davis, etc. will want to investigate this. How anyone managed to get such a clean, full sound recording in that setting is beyond me. Production was done by War’s Jerry Goldstein and former Sly & The Family Stone drummer Greg Errico, and that’s about all the liner notes give the listener, other than a quoted endorsement of Ike White by Stevie Wonder. There are no musician credits, which leads me to wonder what else Ike was playing, ‘cause these songs are amazing…I know he’s on vocals/guitar but thats it ?...did Stevie lay down the synths ?  who knows... Ike comes across as a self-contained writer/performer in the mode of Shuggie Otis or Junie Morrison, but no one really knows the truth. But the exceptional grooves found here, from the spaced-out synth/guitar jams “Antoinette” and “I Remember George” to the breakbeat favorite “Love And Affection”, which features Ike rappin’ about his sexual frustration stemming from his prison stay, with plenty of criminal justice system puns for good measure. Sad that he killed himself two weeks after the documentary was made, what a waste after recording this masterpiece!

AMM

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