I have a faint recollection of finding this funky beast among my parents' braindead schlager LPs when I was a little boy. E-man Groovin' came with the stereo equipment my parents had bought in late 1970s and undoubtebly they had never listened to it. But I did, and so Jimmy Castor was my exposure to funk. It would take 13 unlucky years before we met again, and the LP was still there right in-between of couple of atrocious schlager LPs. I gave it a better home. For few times it served as background music at some drunken meetings with my friends. This year I had the LP cleaned. It was still in surprisingly good condition considering how I manhandled it when I was a kid.
How does it sound today? At first I noticed how the production and arrangement was much better than on Castor's previous albums. Castor produced the album himself along with Johnnie Pruitt. All the songs are full of carefully layered details, especially Jeffrey Grimes' great rhythm guitar playing and Gerry Thomas' keyboard work. Paul Forley's bass playing (and sound!) is something I really like. He even makes 'Dracula', Castor's a bit tired novelty song, sound interesting with his bubbly bass. The whole band is in great shape and their grooves never fail. They're in kind of a transitional mode, with another foot still in funk's dirt bucket and another tapping to the latest disco junk.
How does it sound today? At first I noticed how the production and arrangement was much better than on Castor's previous albums. Castor produced the album himself along with Johnnie Pruitt. All the songs are full of carefully layered details, especially Jeffrey Grimes' great rhythm guitar playing and Gerry Thomas' keyboard work. Paul Forley's bass playing (and sound!) is something I really like. He even makes 'Dracula', Castor's a bit tired novelty song, sound interesting with his bubbly bass. The whole band is in great shape and their grooves never fail. They're in kind of a transitional mode, with another foot still in funk's dirt bucket and another tapping to the latest disco junk.
The album itself is pretty uneven. Side A is mostly gold material, but on side B the tempo starts to slow down, gets Ted Lange to serve some sweet drinks ('Super Love'), turns overly sentimental (mostly instrumental cover of 'I Don't Want To Lose You') and finally lands on 'Dracula pt. 2', which is a reprise of the Dracula song on side one, and thus a pointless filler. But all and all there's enough first rate material to make this album a (forgotten) classic.
Track Listing:
Side A:
E-man Groovin'
Space Age
I Love A Mellow Groove
Dracula, Pt. I
Side B:
Everything Is Beautiful To Me
Super Love
I Don't Want To Lose You
Dracula, Pt. II
Personnel:
Jimmy Castor: Tenor & alto saxophones, timbales, all lead & background vocals
Gerry Thomas: All keyboards
Jeffrey Grimes: Guitar
Paul Forney: Bass
Lenny Fridie, Jr: Conga
Ellwood Henderson, Jr: Drums
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