1976 Weldon Irvine “Sinbad” on RCA Victor

1976 7” 45 Weldon Irvine “I Love You / What’s Goin’ On?” on RCA.

I was down in the Castle Wax archive room/data storage vault the other day, and was amazed to see that I’d never posted this record before, which only became more damning while giving it a fresh spin, because this action is FRESH. Which is no surprise, because as every single person on IG knows, Weldon rules. Unsurprisingly for the release date, this record leans further toward funky jazz with a taste of protodiscosoul than his previous work, but it totally works, and the title song is a mean dancehall bomber. By now RCA figured out who they had in their stables, because the lineup kills: Steve Gadd (Steve Gadd!!!) on drums, the mighty Cornell Dupree (2500 reported sessions, including Aretha’s R-E-S-P…) AND Eric Gale on gits, Don Blackman (Yes, shells in his dreads Blackman) on piano, Micheal Brecker on tenor, Gordon Edwards from Salsoul Orchestra slapping bass, and of course Mr. Irvine handling production, arrangements, conduction, keys, and Synthesize. I could probably do without the note-for-notish Stevie cover, while the Marvin cover is more improvisational, but aside from that this bad boy is pure uptempo soulful funky goodness. Word on the street is that Weldon wrote over 500 songs over his far too-short life. Which is to say he shot himself with a rifle outside a NY office complex supposedly to protest against the record company housed inside. Yeah, there is a real sadness, a haunting undercurrent to all of Irvine’s music, which I think is why his feel-good funk is so effective, the contradiction gives it a dynamic that reaches beyond the genre. It’s profound in its own way, and this record is great, even if you can always sort of hear the haunting note within.