Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Lyman Woodard Cheeba Cheeba

The Lyman Woodard Organisation Cheeba Cheeba Strata LP Saturday Night Special

One album I have been hammering recently is the above. I featured Lyman Woodard's Don't Stop on IDR a few months back.
You can pick this up Saturday Night Special on CD from Dusty Groove:

A killer set of hypnotic organ funk from Lyman Woodard -- an old bandmate of Dennis Coffey, and one of the shining lights of the 70s Detroit scene! This is amazing, amazing stuff -- Woodard's electric piano, organ and occasional mellotron and Norma Bell's alto saxophone lend a cosmic funk aspect throughout, very much like Death Wish-era Herbie Hancock! Ron English accents the thing perfectly with his languid guitar and bass groove, while Leonard King and Lorenzo Brown's drumming and percussion can keep the groove adrift, or tear it up in a funky maelstrom depending on the mission of the cut. It's totally essential Strata jazz funk -- and a record we've rarely seen, until now! Tracks include "Saturday Night Special (Parts I & II), "Joy Road", "Belle Isle Daze (Parts I & II), "Creative Musicians", "Cheeba Cheeba (Parts I & II)", "On Your Mind", "Help Me Get Away" and more.

The notes to the album contain a bio on Lyman which informs us that he was the musical director of the Invictus group the 8th Day:

Sleevenotes Saturday Night Special

I have posted below the 8th Day's version of the song to compare the two takes:

8th Day Cheba Invictus LP I Gotta Get Home

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