Sold Date: March 28, 2021
Start Date: August 28, 2012
Final Price: £16.99 (GBP)
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Father’s Children

Father’s Children (Mercury, 1979, STEREO)

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A PAYPAL-ONLY LISTING. 

Brand new shrink-wrapped 12” vinyl LP. Cut direct from the original tapes and pressed on 180g virgin vinyl to ensure the very best sound quality.

Vocalion VOCLP 3301 

An eight-strong soul group whose roots lay in the Washington DC area, Father’s Children released just one album, their eponymously titled debut, recorded for the Mercury label in late 1978. Produced by The Crusaders’ Wayne Henderson, for these sessions he augmented Father’s Children’s line-up with, among others, Bobby ‘The Genie’ Lyle (synths) and backup vocalists Augie ‘AJ’ Johnson, Gregory Matta and Miki Howard from the Henderson-produced group Side Effect. The album that resulted really is the definition of the term ‘rare groove’. Overlooked at the time of its original release in 1979, it later became a cult classic on the underground soul circuit thanks to its high steppin’ rhythms, tight, funky arrangements and, of course, Father’s Children’s gorgeous gospel-influenced vocal harmonies. Hollywood Dreaming, which has since become the album’s most celebrated track, evokes the sun-drenched boulevards of Los Angeles, whilst Got to Get Away is undoubtedly one of the highlights: an irresistible mid-tempo number that seems to define what soul music was about – or should have always been about – at the end of the ’70s. The arrangement is just right … and listen to those voices! Wayne Henderson leaves the producer’s chair for My Grandma to contribute a characteristically robust trombone solo, and the album ends in an upbeat mood with You Can Get It, a straight down-the-line funk shuffle punctuated by a rousing brass arrangement and Father’s Children’s energetic vocal delivery. These are just some of the treasures found within the grooves of Father’s Children’s first and only outing on the Mercury label, and Vocalion proudly presents it on 180g virgin vinyl and cut direct from the original master tapes.

NOTE: EACH LP ORDERED WILL BE SENT IN A SEPARATE PACK

Track listing: 

Side A

1: Shine On (Father’s Children; Morene; Oliver) Tony Vaughn (speech)

2: Hollywood Dreaming (Father’s Children)

3: Dance Do It (Father’s Children)

4: Wild Woman (Father’s Children; Davis)

5: Music Use It (Father’s Children; Henderson) Gregory Matta (background vocal)

Side B

1: Got to Get Away (Father’s Children; Smith) Augie Johnson, Miki Howard, Gregory Matta (background vocals)

2: Gone Bad (Father’s Children)

3: My Grandma (Father’s Children; Smith) Wayne Henderson (trombone)

4: Music for Your Mind (Father’s Children; Smith)

5: You Can Get It (Father’s Children) Khalik Abdul Hanif (guitar); Dean Gant (clavinet)

Recorded at Ocean Way Recording, ABC Studios, Total Experience Studios, Hollywood, California

Recording engineers: Mike Evans & Alan Sides

Mixing engineer: Alan Sides

Producer: Wayne Henderson

Co-producer: Augie Johnson

Father’s Children

Qaadir Abdul Mateen, Raheem A Khabir, Hakeem Abdul Ghani (lead/background vocals)

Khalik Abdul Hanif (guitar); Malik Abdul Khabir (bass guitar)

Yah Yah Abdulla (congas, percussion); Tony Vaughn (keyboards)

Sadik Abdul Hagg (drums, percussion, background vocal)

Bobby Lyle (synthesizers, Arp Quadra, Arp Odyssey) [1-8, 10]

John Skykun (synthesizer programming)

Bob Greve, John Ervin, Chuck Brooke, Denny Christianson, Don Cooke, Frank Szabo (brass)

Brass arrangements

Augie Johnson [1, 5, 9]; Wayne Henderson [2-4, 6, 8, 10]; Don Cooke [7]