Rotary Connection: "Songs"

Rotary Connection was Stepney’s answer, and challenge, to psychedelia.  As the late ‘60’s wore on and the music of many bands seemed to float even further out into the ether, Stepney used Rotary Connection as a vehicle for his feelings on the movement and the time period itself.  The sound contained within their albums ranged from placid, folky musings to acid-rock freakouts to hardcore R&B to early funk-fusion, all the while addressing the musical and cultural mutations that were occurring throughout the world in the swirling turbulence that was the second half of the 1960’s.  On “Songs,” Stepney speaks directly to certain musicians and bands by taking their songs and turning them inside out.  Employing the staggering, height-scaling, dove-tailing vocals of Minnie Riperton and the rich, worn, soulful voice of Sidney Barnes, Stepney takes such ‘60’s staples as “Respect,” “Sunshine Of Your Love,” “The Weight” and “Salt Of The Earth,” and molds them into creations all his own, often making the more famous composers and/or performers of the original tunes look rather tame by comparison.  Riperton is simply astonishing; anyone who is a fan but only knows her from her ‘70’s material MUST investigate her work with Rotary Connection, as she rocks harder and takes more risks than she ever would again.  She pushes her vocals to the brink many times over, displaying an edge and ferocity uncharacteristic in her later work.  The other star of this recording is the band, uncredited on the LP but likely made up of the usual Cadet studio suspects—Phil Upchurch, Pete Cosey, Cleveland Eaton, Maurice White, Morris Jennings.  The guitars are particularly crunchy, with Phil Upchurch in full-on heavy metal mode, taking on Hendrix, Page, Clapton, Townshend, etc., and winning.  Throughout this record there is a distinctly evident vibe, as there was on so many of the other Cadet projects from this time, allowing the listener to lose themselves and be overwhelmed (in a good way) by the stark beauty, sprung from deep inside the genius mind of Charles Stepney.