Junie: "When We Do"

Awww shit—now that’s what I’m talking about.  This was a bargain find from the record show, and what a find—you never see this around, and it’s a brilliant, eclectic, esoteric masterpiece.  Junie was the leader and main singer/songwriter of the earlier, “Funky Worm” incarnation of the Ohio Players, and after leaving that group he recorded three wildly unclassifiable, idiosyncratic solo efforts, of which “When We Do” is the first.  Junie is an unsung hero of this period, and on his solo efforts he plays nearly all the instruments in very Prince/Stevie-type fashion, although with a little more of that extra grit that came from being one of the Ohio Players back in the day.  This album features everything from the guitar-heavy title cut to the very Players-sounding “Tight Rope” to the absolutely astounding jazz guitar runs of the instrumental “Walt’s Third Trip,” as Junie clowns all the while, with an immediately recognizable vocal style and a sly sense of humor.  Plus, the crazy bald chick from the first few Ohio Players records is here in all her weird glory.  I mean, what more do you want from a funk joint?  Junie would go on from these mid-‘70’s recordings to join the Parliament-Funkadelic circus, and was one of the major forces present on that collective’s late-‘70’s gems, including “One Nation Under A Groove” (Funkadelic), “The Motor-Booty Affair” (Parliament) and “Uncle Jam Wants You” (Funkadelic).  All this only reinforces the fact that much respect is due Walter “Junie” Morrison—one of the most talented cats that most people never heard of.