FF:BRUARY23,1978
Cnlh'uialr
PAGE THREE
Mother s Finest To Appear In Concert
ATLANTA; How do you classify a band that has plaved
forPeler Frampton. Lynyrd Skynyrd, Parliament-Funkad^H;! h
Charlie Daniels and Earth, Wind and Fire? What kind of bas
put them in. since their music reflects both hard rock and tiff V
fluences’ What other band is around to compare them to’
The answers to these questions are, bluntly unan<5u/».<.Ki
vou see Mother’s Finest in concert. They seei^ to almnlf
visiting a new city, playing before a crowd who has only cLpT
me star attraction, and then, as lead singer Joyce
say, "making believers out of them.” ^ ^
Mother’s Finest is a rock and
roll band whose career really
took off after it decided to base
in Atlanta and join the
managerial direction of Hugh
Rodgers. The group signed a
recording contract with Epic
records and released a very
strong debut album that was
well received everywhere. A
second album, “Another Mother
Further” followed. Again there
were good reviews, but still to
see Mother’s Finest live is an
e.vlra treat.
(t is no secret that segregation
is still very strong in the record
business, not in terms of social
segregation, but in a business
sense. Mother’s Finest was
caught in the middle. “The Biz”
didn't know how to handle the
group in which four out of six
members are black. Current
thinking is that rock and roll is
white people’s music — Mother’s
Finest plays rock and roll, the
founders and majority of the
members are black — but black
music is funk, R&B and disco.
Realistically, Mother’s Finest is
the first gorup to blend pop
music’s two most popular
genres. A word to describe them
would be “Black Rock,”
Mother’s Finest tunes are fully
collaborated amongst the six
members of the band. As Glenn
said, "Someone comes up with a
skeleton of an idea, takes it
down, Michael and ‘The Wizard’
are very lyrical and Joyce and I
are into arranging while Gary’s
into his rock thing with ‘B.B.’
Adding the final punt of the
lineup as Drummer and
everyone fits, the idea into their
own personal way of playing.”
The band moves even tighter
together by the fact that they are
all vegetarians, devoted to
“clean living” as they put it. The
sum total is individuality within
unity, rock complementing
blues, vocals spicing up the
rhythmic base. It’s captivating
and in harmony with a ^roup
concept. “Show business means
exactly what it is,” says Glenn.
“We can indentify with the
audience. We may not dress
alike, but everyone is himself,
playing in the group together.
We’re there to make music and
perform the audience that’s
ready for us.” “I’m really at
home on the stage.” says Joyce,
“That strong singing and
wailing that you hear me do —
it’s for real, it’s not affected. We
really mean it.” Right from the
opening, Joyce Kennedy is an
unusually talented singer with
the energetic and infectuous
stage manner. She has the
electrifying sex appeal and
vibrant movement to captivate
any audience and can sing any
musical style and do it well, but
the thundering rock and roll that
Nantucket
NANTUCKET BAND
CBS, Epic Records
Epic Records bills this band —
“In '77 we brought you Boston —
in ’78 we bring you Nantucket.”
This high energy, explosive rock
and roll act is one you won't
want to miss!
Based out of Raleigh, N.C. — 4
of the 6 members Jiave been in
the music profession for 10
years. The remaining 2 mem
bers are as well qualified and
liave been with the group for 6
years.
The band has toured ex
tensively in the Southeastern
United States and have played
such rooms as Alex Cooley’s
Electric Ballroom in Atlanta,
Ga. and CBGB’s in N.Y. City
where they received an excellent
'•'rite-up on their performance,
Variety Magazine March 8,1976,
The group has performed witn
such acts as Yes, Elvin Bishop.
Goose Creek. Brecker Brothers.
Ur, HOOK, Motfier's Finest, Wild
Cherry, Stories, Steve Martin,
and David Allen Coe.
The band traveled to Florida
this past summer to showcase
for several recording com
panies. Among the companies
represented were Capricorn,
Atlantic, Capitol, Epic,
Columbia, and Warner Brothers
Records. The group signed with
Epic Records, N.Y. and have
projected release date of
January, 1978 for their album.
The band carries their own
P.A. and Lighting systems
capable of competently filling a
3-4.000 seat room. To insure that
everything is run smoothly and
without complications the group
has an extremely competent
road crew of 5.
ill
Mother’s Finest chooses to do
rates the best.
Like the single says. Mother's
Finest is “Baby Love”.
Ram International
The consensus ot those who
have witnessed the sextet in
concert is unanimous — they are
one of America’s top touring
bands; their level of energy and
excitement is at a level coveted
by many better-known en
sembles; they can successfully
court narrow-minded audiences
to such a fervor that encores will
be demanded.
Mother’s Finest’s strong
points are multi-fold. There is
obviously a sex appeal factor
present in the demeanor of lead
vocalist Joyce Kennedy; with
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tight pants and attractive looks,
she uses these as a base, A
mighty voice, projects to the
very back row. In addition, the
other members have a sharply
honed sense of stage presence;
their dancing, peripatetic poses
on stage speak of unbridled
enthusiasm and dynamism,
“There is no group that does
exactly what we do," says
Joyce, A racially mixed hand of
four blacks and two whites, they
have a hybrid sound integrating
both the force of s(vcalled
“white" rock and the funk of so-
called “black music." For this
reason, their appeal cuts across
all racial lines. As Joyce further
explains, "we're not ■■‘4 funk, we
don't sing any of those soul
bleeHling songs, but neilher do
we gel into (Hire rm-k and roll
that dw'p,"
Although their albums have
won scores of critical raves,
most objective observers agree
their live show is Mother's
Finesl's true calling card, “I'm
really at home on the stage, Ttiat
strong singing and wailing llwt
you hear me do — it's for real, it
is not affecltHf We really mean
it,"
Russell Shaw
The New Image
Barber & Styling Shop
(j. Davis, E. Haper, R. Oivens
Gold Park Shopping Onter 2 t.'i-2220
Loralf’d At
121 (ioldsbaro And
In If rrn I
Check Out Our
“Head-Gear” And
Ticket Outlet For “Paraphanalia”
‘Mother’s Finest’
"Monday nite
special. Bring
your instrument
and play
with us."
(Special Rate)
for Musicians)
TAMARACK
Located
downtown
next door
to Super Hits
"Wilson's first
and only
coffeehouse"
TAVERN
Wilson, n.c.