Ronnie Foster ”Sweet Revival”

Ronnie Foster

”Sweet Revival”
( LP Blue Note Records, 1972 )
Catalog # BN-LA098-F

Tracklisting:
A1 Sweet Revival (3:52)
A2 Lisa’s Love (5:20)
A3 Back Stabbers (3:20)
A4 Me And Mrs. Jones (4:23)
A5 Alone Again (Naturally) (4:05)
B1 Where Is The Love? (5:26)
B2 Some Neck (4:43)
B3 It’s Just Gotta Be That Way (3:49)
B4 Superwoman (5:00)
B5 Inot (5:03)

Personnel & Credits:
Garnett Brown (tb)
Seldon Powell (ts)
Ronnie Foster (org)
Ernie Hayes (el-p)
David Spinozza, John Tropea (el-g)
Wilbur Bascomb Jr. (el-b)
Bernard Purdie (d)
unknown (per)
Horace Ott (arr, cond)
unidentified horns, strings and female vocals group
Artwork By [Album Design] – Mike Salisbury
Engineer – Tony May
Executive Producer – George Butler
Photography – Marty Evans
Producer, Arranged By, Conductor – Horace Ott

Notes:
Recorded December 14 & 15, 1972
at Generation Sound Studio, New York
Format: Vinyl, LP
Country: US
Released: 1972

Review:
“Let me begin by saying that this is not the greatest jazz album you’ve ever heard.” So states critic/DJ Harry Abraham in the liner notes on the back of Sweet Revival, Ronnie Foster’s second album as a leader. Abraham was obviously trying to deflect criticism that this record is, in his words, “a commercial album that could have just as easily been titled ‘Ronnie Foster Plays the Top 40 hits of the Seventies With Horns, Strings and Voices,’” but nothing he could write would make this album acceptable to jazz purists. Foster’s fondness for funky soul-jazz would be enough to earn the disdain of some critics, but he compounds his problems by piling on contemporary funk, soul, and pop influences. Sweet, sweeping strings straight out of Philadelphia are all over Sweet Revival, as are wah-wah and fuzz guitars, slap bass, electric pianos, vocal choruses, and electric sitars. Half of the album is devoted to pop covers (”Back Stabbers,” “Me and Mrs. Jones,” “Alone Again (Naturally)”), with a couple of fusion numbers and originals thrown in for good measure. Certainly, this is the stuff that enrages jazzbos, and the album does sound like the soundtrack for a cut-rate blaxploitation flick, but that’s part of its appeal. Fans of that sound will find much of the album appealing, even if the vocals can sound eerie (check out the heavily echoed intro to “Where Is the Love?”) and the sitars sound silly. Although the album sounds dated, the grooves are funky, and Sweet Revival remains one of the most engaging records of groovy, jazzy funk-soul of its era.
By Stephen Thomas Erlewine (AMG)

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Andy’s Note:
This is the 2nd Ronnie Foster album on Blue Note and is completely different to the first (Two Headed Freap)
Basically a covers album of 70’s hits and a few originals,all done well I may add and worth a listen.

By Andy