Mother's Finest

[GoogaMooga]

Formed in Atlanta, Georgia in 1970, the band Mother's Finest are that rare beast: a funk rock outift. Funk rock has got to be one of the narrowest subgenres in R&B, offhand I can only think of Living Color, perhaps Black Merda. But they have persevered with their sound, done a fair bit of label hopping, and charting in the lower reaches now and again, enough to sustain a loyal following, especially in Europe. Amazingly, they are still active after numerous line-up changes. I've got their reunion album from 89 spinning now, "Looks Could Kill", their sole album for Capitol. The playing is tight, yet the whole thing manages to be rather messy at the same time, perhaps too many ideas thrown in the pot, and not enough channeling of those ideas into something coherent and meaningful. No surefire hits on this album, and it is telling that a Beatles quote is the thing one remembers best after the first listen. Can't make up my mind whether the album is a trainwreck or a triumph, the truth is probably found somewhere between the two extremes. I'll hang on to it and the few other albums of theirs that I've found in thrift, they need time to grow on me.

[Minnie the Minx]

Coincidentally, we went to see them recently in Frankfurt!

[bobzilla77]

"Funk rock has got to be one of the narrowest subgenres in R&B, offhand I can only think of Living Color, perhaps Black Merda."


TYou should check out Funkadelic, dude!

[GoogaMooga]

"Funk rock has got to be one of the narrowest subgenres in R&B, offhand I can only think of Living Color, perhaps Black Merda."


TYou should check out Funkadelic, dude!

Oh shit, I knew there was a biggie I had overlooked!

[GoogaMooga]

Coincidentally, we went to see them recently in Frankfurt!

Hope you had a good time. I can imagine they'd be good live.

[Minnie the Minx]

Coincidentally, we went to see them recently in Frankfurt!

Hope you had a good time. I can imagine they'd be good live.

They WERE good. Alas, the evening went south when Baron got into a fight with some Satan’s Slaves over some culinary issue and he got ejected, so he missed most of it.

[pcqgod]

I like them a lot. Some of their albums lean heavily to pure rock, but I think hey're at their best when you hear both the rock and funk influences.

[Charlie O.]

I saw them in 1980. I was 14 and attending a summer "Band Camp" at East Carolina University. My first night there, Mother's Finest just happened to be playing on campus (I think it was in a chapel! - or maybe the room just reminded me of one). I knew who they were as my older brother had their first album, although I don't think I'd ever listened to it. So they were basically the first "club level" band on a major label that I ever saw (I'd been to a couple of arena shows by that point).

I thought they were great! They were incontestably LOUD - my ears rang for days after.

I've still never heard any of their records.

[GoogaMooga]

Coincidentally, we went to see them recently in Frankfurt!

Hope you had a good time. I can imagine they'd be good live.

They WERE good. Alas, the evening went south when Baron got into a fight with some Satan’s Slaves over some culinary issue and he got ejected, so he missed most of it.

Awful thing when that happens. I had a similar experience at a Tom Jones concert, where I hushed a guy sitting behind me, whereupon he grabbed me and shook me. I changed seat, but was so angry I ended up calling security, just to mess up his concert. Of course, I was so agitated, they let him go first and held me, the victim, back for much longer.

[Penk!]

the evening went south when Baron got into a fight with some Satan’s Slaves over some culinary issue

Awful thing when that happens. I had a similar experience at a Tom Jones concert.