Feeling horn-y?

Good evening Rawkers. D'ya like them "horn bands"? I'm talking about the classics, like Blood, Sweat & Tears, Chicago (the early stuff, when they were the Chicago Transit Authority), Tower of Power, Rare Earth, Ides of March, Al Kooper, Blues Project, etc.

Others that stretch into the genre include Maynard Ferguson, Earth Wind & Fire, Sly & the Family Stone, etc.

At its core, it reflects the vision of melding overdriven guitars and funky rhythm sections with tight horn arrangements to create a jazzy-edged sound that fit the 70s like a groovacious glove. For those who appreciate the intricacies of the arrangements and the interesting chordal possibilities, it was a glorious marriage. For others...? Who cares. Statement, not question.

On the subject of Chicago, if the only stuff you know from these masters is the lame-ass, AM-radio-friendly Peter Cetera love song crap, you're missing the best of the rest. Check out the first bunch of albums (ten?) from the boys. Yeah, Cetera still has the tenor vocals and plays bass, but the band has the edge and energy that propelled them to the top of the charts (wonder who the guitar player is at the left? None other than the superlative Terry Kath, who defined the early sound of Chicago. After his accidental gunshot death at 31 they crept ever-so-slowly to the edge of the wuss cliff and then fully leaped into the abyss. Thanks Peter C.... uradik).

The bands that bridged the rock/funk gap using horns during this period included Sly and Earth Wind & Fire. The cats flat out rawked AND grooved AND funked it up in a stanky way!!

Check out "Thank You (Faletinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" and "In the Stone". The first is an amazing funk offering from Sly. The second, a transcendent horn anthem from EWF (one of my favorite songs of all time, and featured coolly in the movie Drum Line).

Ahhhhh...... The magic of the horns. Rawk on bruthahs.

And go in peace....

G.O.T.