Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band - Original Album Series (2010) {5CD Box Set}

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Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band - Original Album Series (2010) {5CD Box Set}

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Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band is a pioneering American soul and funk band. Formed in the early 1960s, they had the most visibility from 1967 to 1973 when the band had 9 singles reach Billboard's pop and/or rhythm and blues charts, such as "Do Your Thing" (#11 Pop, #12 R&B), "Till You Get Enough" (#12 R&B, #67 Pop), and "Love Land" (R&B #23, Pop #16). They are best known for their biggest hit on Warner Bros. Records, 1970's "Express Yourself" (#3 R&B, #12 Pop), a song that has been sampled by rap group N.W.A and others. The original line-up comprised of bandleader Charles Wright (vocals, guitar, piano), Al McKay (guitar), Gabe Flemings (piano, trumpet), Melvin Dunlap (bass), James Gadson (drums), John Rayford and Bill Cannon (both sax), and Ray Jackson (trombone). McKay left in 1969 to join Earth, Wind & Fire and was replaced by Benorce Blackmon. Initially, the band was known as The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, from 1969 on they recorded as Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band. The group was disbanded when Dunlap, Gadson, Jackson and Blackmon went on to work with Bill Withers in 1972. Charles Wright then embarked on a solo career.

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Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band - Original Album Series (2010) {5CD Box Set}

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Hot Heat and Sweat Groove is the debut album by the funky band led by the charismatic Charles Wright. The Wright brood moved to Los Angeles when Charles Wright was 12. In Watts, Wright befriended doo woppers and balladeers like Jesse Belvin, the Hollywood Flames, the Youngsters, and others who lived in the area. Propped by stars like Bill Cosby and publicized by two and a half years of sold-out crowds at the Haunted House (a local club), along with an unexpected local hit, the band was able to secure a contract with Warner Bros. Records. Nothing major came from this set that displayed a choppy rhythmic approach similar to Dyke & the Blazers. But this surprisingly hard-to-find album produced by James Carmichael, who went on to great success with the Commodores, features some thick funk: "Fried Okra," "Brown Sugar," and reworkings of "Yellow Submarine," "The Girl From Ipanema," and "Bring It on Home to Me." While not the most cohesive set, you can't knock the hot SoCal energy exhibited by Wright and his crew of young hopefuls, including future Earth, Wind & Fire member Al McKay, along with James Gadson, Melvin Dunlap, Big John Rayford, Bill Cannon, Gabriel Flemings, and Joe Banks. The LP's most popular track, "Spreading Honey," charted at number 44 R&B and number 73 pop in 1967. The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band didn't even record the song. Wright cut the track with Bobby Womack, Leon Haywood, James Carmichael, and others as the theme song for DJ Magnificent Montague's radio show. But it smoked so much that Warner Bros. signed them on the dotted line and credited the single to the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band; this album followed, and the rest is history.

~ Andrew Hamilton, All Music

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Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band - Original Album Series (2010) {5CD Box Set}

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Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band - Original Album Series (2010) {5CD Box Set}

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Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band - Original Album Series (2010) {5CD Box Set}

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Released in 1968, the second album from the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band finds Charles Wright and company still trying to translate their nightclub and singles success into record album sales. The standout cut is "Do Your Thing," a simmering call to the dancefloor that plays on the strengths of this very tight band, slowly building into an undeniable groove; the record-buying public thought similarly, pushing "Do Your Thing" to number 11 on the Billboard charts. About a third of Together follows in this funky groove: "Giggin' Down 103rd," "Sorry Charlie," and the sax feature "Phuncky Bill." There are some covers here too, the mid-show cool down of "Stormy Monday," a tip of the hat to JB with "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag," and a 200 mph run-through of Eddie Floyd's "Knock on Wood." The rest of the album is made up of mid-tempo soul with a loping, Southern feel that doesn't stand out so much because of what is played but how it's played. The Watts band was a monster with James Gadson on drums, Melvin Dunlap on bass, Al McKay on guitar, and a fearsome horn section too, with special mention going to Bill Cannon here for the previously mentioned "Phuncky Bill." Gadson and McKay would go on to join Earth, Wind & Fire while Dunlap joined Bill Withers' band. Together shows a band on the way to its peak, a point they wouldn't reach until the release of Express Yourself in 1970, but listening to them get there is half the fun.

~ Wade Kergan, All Music

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Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band - Original Album Series (2010) {5CD Box Set}

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Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band - Original Album Series (2010) {5CD Box Set}

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Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band - Original Album Series (2010) {5CD Box Set}

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Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band were near the peak of their popularity on this, their third Warner Brothers LP featuring three chart singles. Artistically, they are right there. The rough unevenness of LP number one is gone, and it flows smoother than their second album – which spawned "Do Your Thing." "Till You Get Enough," a heavy dose of funk, charted at number 68 pop and 12 R&B in 1969; the slow, sensuous "Love Land" faired much better overall at number ten pop and number 20 R&B in 1969. A final single, "Must Be Your Thing" (1970), charted at number 67 pop and 12 R&B. The band also affix their disjointed rhythmic approach to remakes of Edwin Starr's "Twenty Five Miles," the Doors' "Light My Fire," and Wilson Pickett's "I'm a Midnight Mover." In the Jungle, Babe is easily the most satisfying album of the bands' career.

~ Andrew Hamilton, All Music

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Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band - Original Album Series (2010) {5CD Box Set}

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Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band - Original Album Series (2010) {5CD Box Set}

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Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band - Original Album Series (2010) {5CD Box Set}

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The quintessential Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band record, Express Yourself displays the purposefully loose rhythms and shout vocals that would make this band a legend in soul circles. Every track on this album is a classic, from the oft-sampled and high-charting pop single "Express Yourself" to the first of many readings of "I Got Love" that would appear on the band's records – and even Wright's solo works for years to come. The aching balladry of "Tell Me What You Want Me to Do" and the complex compositions "High as Apple Pie – Slice 1" and "High as Apple Pie – Slice 2" showcase a versatility found in other West Coast collectives such as War. Perhaps the treasure of this album is the opener, "Road Without an End," a charming, stepping groover punctuated by choppy horns and snapping drums that blend beautifully with one of Wright's best vocals of his career, all accented by sweeping strings. Express Yourself is '70s soul at its most creative and satisfying.

~ Douglas Siwek, All Music

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Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band - Original Album Series (2010) {5CD Box Set}

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Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band - Original Album Series (2010) {5CD Box Set}

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Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band - Original Album Series (2010) {5CD Box Set}

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Following the success of their most popular album ever, Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band seem to be running out of ideas on You're So Beautiful. Kicking off the festivities is a re-working of their big hit, "Express Yourself." Steeped in call-and-response revivalism, "Express Yourself II" brings the funk, but is repetitive and lacks focus. Elements of the band's unbridled yet controlled soul are still evident, but the songs themselves are without structure and seem to ramble. A prime example is the spaced-out "Let's Make Love Not War." A Tribe Called Quest and Brand Nubian have plucked juicy lines from "What Can You Bring Me," with its chicken-scratch guitar licks and ebbing horn patterns.

~ Douglas Siwek, All Music

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Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band - Original Album Series (2010) {5CD Box Set}

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Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band - Original Album Series (2010) {5CD Box Set}

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Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band - Original Album Series (2010) {5CD Box Set}

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