Brass Construction (album)

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Brass Construction
Studio album by
Brass Construction
Released1975
Studio
Genre
Length41:00
LabelUnited Artists
ProducerJeff Lane
Brass Construction chronology
Brass Construction
(1975) 		Brass Construction II
(1976)
Singles from Brass Construction
  1. "Movin'"
    Released: 1976
  2. "Changin'"
    Released: 1976

Brass Construction is the self-titled debut album by the American

social awareness
in the lyrics.

The album's release was delayed due to other projects involving lead member Randy Muller, but proved to be a surprise success, reaching the top ten of the US

Britfunk
movement of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Soul Brothers Records re-released the album in 2010.

Background and recording

Brass Construction formed in

Brooklyn, New York under the name The Dynamic Soul in 1967. Originally a rock/R&B quartet under the leadership of Randy Muller, the group gradually expanded until they had become a nine-piece by 1972, with new members bringing influences of jazz and Latin music. Muller felt the enlarged personnel necessitated a name change, so the group renamed themselves Brass Construction, chosen because he believed the group placed a strong emphasis on their brass section "though we keep a tight rhythm going."[1] The group's first single, "Two Timin' Lady", was released in 1972 by Docc, a record label owned by producer Jeff Lane.[2]

Lane was impressed with Muller's musical arranging skills and asked him to provide

phrase is shifted over a bar," as he described in an interview with Wax Poetics.[4]

Brass Construction was produced by Lane and recorded at Ultra-Sonic Studios in

Hempstead and N.Y. Groove Studios in New York City.[5] The group compiled a list of the twelve best songs they could record for the album and then used half of them, with several unused songs later appearing on Brass Construction II.[6] Featuring extra vocals from sisters Delores, Bonnie and Denise Dunning,[7] "Movin'" emerged from a studio jam session that began with Wade Williamson's bass line, before Muller gave cues to other band members, notably drummer Larry Payton. "That's why you hear some off rolls in there," the musician later explained, "since I would yell to Larry, 'Okay, let's go! Roll coming up!'". The jam lasted sixteen minutes, one entire side of tape, with Muller subsequently writing the horn parts and "Got myself together" hook, which were overdubbed.[4] The album took three months to complete due to the band's perfectionism, which led to many minor alterations.[1] After recording Brass Construction, the record's release was delayed while Muller provided further string arrangements for B.T. Express, among other activities.[8]

Composition

"I had to put some lyrics on the instrumentals. So, as a concept, I used verbs for all the song titles and came up with some very simple, abstract vocal chants to go with the music. Later I would hear from the fans how much these songs spoke to them–they would have a whole story for these one word songs! That's the trick for writing good songs: Let people plug in their own experiences."

—Randy Muller in an interview with Wax Poetics[4]

All six songs on Brass Construction were written by the group, with Muller primarily responsible for five of them.

Caribbean music, reflecting the diverse nationalities of the band members, are woven into the music.[7] While comparisons were drawn between the disco songs on Brass Construction and B.T. Express, who Muller describes as "a solid funk band," the musician highlighted the influence of other styles of music on Brass Construction, including Latin music and jazz.[1]

Muller originally intended the group to be instrumental, having favoured the horn sections of

social awareness in the lyrics.[7][9] Continuing the simplistic approach, the titles of all six songs feature only a single verb.[1][4] "It was a little bit of a concept," Muller told an interviewer, "but basically it was done for simplicity. It's appropriate, too, with our approach to our music because we are basically simple and don't want to become too complicated."[1]

Incorporating driving

off-time bass riffs of Wade Williamson, while the horns and chanting permeate.[11] According to author Rickey Vincent, the song was one of the final dance jams of its era to "groove on rhythm instruments," as the synthesizers appear on top of the song's groove rather than in its rhythm track.[11] While not a ballad, "Love" features a slower tempo than the other songs,[7] and incorporates a fanfare into its coda.[12]

Release and reception

Due to the lengthy delay that followed recording Brass Construction, the group became sceptical of releasing the album, fearing it would now sound "stale".

Hot Dance Club Play chart, while "Changin'" reached number three.[3]

In their contemporary review,

19th Grammy Awards in 1976, Brass Construction was nominated for Best R&B Instrumental Performance.[23] The album is certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for 1,000,000 sales[24] and Silver by the British Phonographic Industry for monetary revenue of £100,000.[25] The group hoped to tour the UK in 1976 after the college terms of all nine members finished,[26] but ran into difficulties when making their applications for travel as Muller realised his mother did not register him as an American citizen when his family settled there from Guyana, fearing if he left the US he may not have been allowed to re-enter.[27] The group did not tour the UK until promoting Brass Construction II in 1977.[28]

Retrospective assessment and legacy

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
The Virgin Encyclopedia of Seventies Music
[10]

Brass Construction established the group as one of the leading exponents of jazz-oriented funk.

Britfunk scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s, with bands like Hi-Tension, Light of the World, Incognito and Level 42.[3][7] The band's music, particularly "Movin'", also became popular at influential northern soul nightclub Blackpool Mecca in the late 1970s, where the introduction of jazz-funk helped bring a new audience.[33] According to DJ Kev Roberts, "Movin'" was the song that "brought in a different level of person altogether", calling it "a funkier groove" and "a new tempo for people north of Watford to get into."[34]

In

color," giving praise to "the way the synthesized violins are timed."[12] In a retrospective review, Craig Lytle of AllMusic made note of "the album's dance/funk appeal," describing the horn-centred music as being laden with vocals and sporadic socially aware lyrics.[9] In his book on funk music, Vincent writes that Brass Construction "rises above commerciality and delivers a furious funk attack quotient,"[11] while in a "Classic Record" column for DJ Mag, DJ Greg Wilson wrote that, with the release of Brass Construction, the band "immediately took their place at funk's top table". He describes the album as the band's defining release: "Right from the opening brass stab this nine-piece band meant business."[3]

The album was re-released by Soul Brother Records in 2009, alongside Brass Construction II and V, with new sleeve notes by Muller. In a review of the reissue, Micahel de Koningh of Blues & Soul hailed Brass Construction as a "pretty solid piece of pre-disco funk" that "no one had heard anything like" before its original release, citing the two "jazz-fuelled disco funk" singles as "era defining". He further credited the album's style – splicing funk music with "banked brass, chattering keyboards and sweeping strings" – as laying the blueprint for the "dozens and dozens" of disco twelve-inch singles that appeared later in the 1970s.[35] Daryl Easlea of BBC Music wrote that the "lyrically succinct and musically, monstrously funky" album startled the "soul community" in 1975, adding that the record's "mixture of driving rhythms and positive message showed there could be an alternative to disco that updated the work of Sly Stone and James Brown, while adding a new, urban flavour."[7]

Track listing

All tracks written by Randy Muller except where noted

Side one

  1. "Movin'" (Muller, Wade Williamston) – 8:39
  2. "Peekin'" (Alexander) – 3:55
  3. "Changin'" – 8:12

Side two

  2. "Love" – 6:35
  3. "Talkin'" – 4:02
  4. "Dance" – 9:36

Personnel

Adapted from the liner notes to Brass Construction[5]

  • Sandy Billups – conga, vocals
  • Mickey Grudge – saxophone, vocals
  • Randy Muller – percussion, arranger, keyboards, timbales, vocals
  • Wayne Parris – trumpet, vocals
  • Larry Payton – drums, vocals
  • Morris Price – percussion, trumpet, vocals
  • Jesse Ward – saxophone, vocals
  • Wade Williamston – bass
  • Joseph Arthur Wong – guitar
  • Irving Spice - strings

Charts

Singles

Year Single Chart positions[40]
US US
R&B
US
Dance
1976 "Changin'" — 24 1
"Movin'" 14 1 1

See also

  • List of number-one R&B albums of 1976 (U.S.)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Abbey, John (February 1976). "Brass Construction". Blues & Soul. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  2. ^ a b Mason, Andrew. "12 records crafted by disco architect Randy Muller of Brass Construction". Wax Poetics. p. 1. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Wilson, Greg (May 23, 2018). "GREG WILSON'S DISCOTHEQUE ARCHIVES #24". DJ Mag. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Mason, Andrew. "12 records crafted by disco architect Randy Muller of Brass Construction". Wax Poetics. p. 2. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  5. ^ a b Brass Construction (liner). Brass Construction. United Artists Records. 1975.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  6. ISBN 0965232875
    . Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Easlea, Daryl. "Brass Construction Brass Construction Review". BBC. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Nathan, David (December 1976). "Brass Construction". Blues & Soul. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  9. ^ a b Lytle, Craig. "AllMusic Review by Craig Lytle". AllMusic. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  10. ^
    ISBN 0753501546
    . Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  11. ^
    ISBN 0312134991
    . Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  12. ^
    ISBN 089919026X
    . Retrieved February 22, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  13. ^ "New York Funk". Jet. 50 (12): 55. June 10, 1976. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  14. ^ "Brass Construction US albums chart history". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2011-06-17.
  15. ^ "TOP R&B/HIP-HOP ALBUMS: The week of May 8, 1976". Billboard. Retrieved April 29, 2020.[permanent dead link]
  16. ^ a b Allen, Kevin (March 6, 1976). "Soul Stirrings" (PDF). Record Mirror & Disc. p. 25. Retrieved June 12, 2020 – via World Radio History.
  17. ^ Hamilton, James (March 13, 1976). "New Spins" (PDF). James Hamilton's Disco Page. Record Mirror & Disc. p. 18 – via World Radio History.
  18. ^ "Brass Facts" (PDF). Record Mirror & Disc (Advertisement). March 6, 1976. p. 24. Retrieved June 12, 2020 – via World Radio History.
  19. ^ a b "Brass Construction". Official Charts. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  20. ISBN 1-85227-432-8
    .
  21. ^ "CAN Charts > Brass Construction". RPM. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
  22. ^ Byrom, Sue (March 20, 1976). "Albums" (PDF). Record Mirror & Disc. p. 24. Retrieved June 12, 2020 – via World Radio History.
  23. ^ "GRAMMY Award Results for Brass Construction". Grammy. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  24. ^ "US Certifications > Brass Construction". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
  25. ^ "UK Certified Awards Search > Brass Construction". British Phonographic Industry. Archived from the original on 2013-01-24. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
  26. ^ Russell, Rosalind (April 24, 1976). "Construction: built to Boogie" (PDF). Record Mirror & Disc. p. 13. Retrieved June 12, 2020 – via World Radio History.
  27. ^ Russell, Rosalind (May 1, 1976). "Construction Difficulties" (PDF). Record Mirror & Disc. Retrieved June 12, 2020 – via World Radio History.
  28. ^ Smith, Robin (April 30, 1977). "Musical Messiahs" (PDF). Record Mirror: 33. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  29. ^ https://www.allmusic.com/album/r135739/review
  30. ISBN 9780879306298
    .
  31. ISBN 0312134991
    .
  32. ISBN 0713721839
    .
  33. ^ Martin, Lauren (January 14, 2016). "Northern Soul: An Oral History". Red Bull Music Academy. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  34. ^ Brewster, Bill. "Interview: Kev Roberts, Wigan Casino DJ". Red Bull Music Academy. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  35. ^ de Koningh, Michael (January 2010). "Column: Michael Koningh's World Music Column (January)". Blues & Soul. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  36. ^ "Brass Construction, TLP". Billboard. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  37. ^ "Brass Construction, BLP". Billboard. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  38. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1976". Billboard. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  39. ^ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 1976". Billboard. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  40. ^ "Brass Construction US singles chart history". allmusic.com. Retrieved June 17, 2011.

External links

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