1974 Roy Ayers Ubiquity “Change Up The Groove” on Polydor

Man, since Roy died I’ve been on a heavy Ayers kick. Not that I wasn’t in general before, but now I find I’m pulling his sides back out on the regular, sort of like when I have the urge for yet another cup of coffee. I really like this record, which I feel is sort of considered Second Tier Roy, probably because it has the Stevie cover, which in truth is unnecessary, but even worse the MASH theme cover, which is a skip on any functioning 8-track, but you mostly end up sitting through it at the turntable. Beyond that, it’s more a low-funk spiritual groove for Roy, and I dig it precisely because it sounds different than his usual bag. Now this is the RL, Bob Ludwig mix, and I don’t really have an opinion on if it makes any difference at all, but I bet I could list it on Discogs for double by mentioning that and suckering in all the Zep II heads. Anyway, I miss Roy, and I find as I age that his “we are all one” spiritual groove/universe unite, late nite with the candles and ladies on the suede coach sound is right up my alley, but when I was 22 I would have squared up if you told me I would love it later in life. Ah well. Oh, and one killer cut by Eugene “Outlaw” McDaniels, just for frosting. Oh yea!